What Will It Take?
by Devils Darkside
Summary: Ela has joined Team Rainbow to make a new start, will she be able to leave the past behind or will her old demons come back to haunt her? Story centers on Ela x Valkyrie but will feature other characters/pairings.
1. Prologue

**So the plot of this just popped into my head one day and I couldn't get rid of it, so i decided to kick off the new year by giving writing a try. Hope you enjoy.**

* * *

What Will It Take?

 _Prologue_

* * *

 ** _Baghdad_** _ **, Iraq 2007**_

"I think Daniels is bleeding out!" One of the men shouted; his voice barely audible through the sound of gunfire and rockets.

"We can't stay here, we have fall back!" Shouted another.

"We can't, we're cut off!"

"Then move to that house, across the street!"

Just then, another set of rockets came flying overhead, missing only by a few feet. More bursts of machine gun fire followed immediately afterword. The squad of twelve soldiers was currently in a heated fire fight. Clearly outnumbered and out gunned, with the only suitable cover being a few abandoned vehicles in the road.

"Christ! Alright, Isaac, take half the squad and go across to clear that house. Once it's safe, cover us as we carry Daniels in. From there, we'll triage him properly and call in for support."

"Got it Sergeant! Alright you heard the man let's go!" Isaac shouted, he and five additional soldiers getting ready.

"Covering fire!" Shouted the squad leader. He and the other remaining soldiers unleashing a volley of bullets with their rifles and light machine guns, covering their advancing allies.

Corporal Isaac and the others made the mad dash across the street, bullets whizzing by their heads and missing by mere inches. In moments, they were across. Isaac, not wanting to spend any more time in the open than necessary, used his large stature to slam into to the door and pummel his way inside. The other soldiers shuffled in right behind him.

"Jeez, you ever hear of knocking?" One of his fellow soldiers asked.

"Can it Kowalski, I didn't want to waste time trying to open it." Isaac retorted

"You looked like a fucking rhinoceros."

"Shut up and clear the rest of the rooms!"

The immediate room was clear; the small team then searched the adjacent rooms, finding them empty as well.

"First floor all clear Corporal."

"Good job Irvin. You, McConnell, and West go clear the second floor." Isaac ordered. "Norman, once they've cleared everything, set up your radio on the roof."

The three soldiers then started up the stairs, kicking in the door and rushing inside. The first room was empty, they then proceeded to check the bathroom, finding it empty as well. The adjacent bedroom was all that was left to check in the whole house. The trio approached the doorway with Irvin at the front. A rustling could be heard from inside, perhaps it was the home owners, just trying to hide from the fighting. There was only one way to find out.

"Watch your fire, we don't want any civilians harmed." Warned McConnell.

"I'll be careful." Irvin responded.

The three approached the door, ready to storm the room. On the signal, they moved in. Before the door was even fully opened, a burst of rifle fire erupted from the room. Immediately Irvin was hit and fell to the floor. With no time to react, McConnell and West rushed in, stepping over their wounded friend. Inside the room, two insurgents were firing their AK-47's, intent on killing anything that entered.

Unfortunately for them the remaining two soldiers were well experienced. Without hesitation they rushed in, with West immediately ducking below the shots and shooting the first insurgent three times in the chest. Before he even hit the ground, McConnell was already putting two shots into the other assailant. The whole engagement was over within about two seconds.

"All clear!"

"I'm hit"

"I got you Irvin, Don't worry."

"If you're the one helping me, I have every reason to be worried."

Ignoring the jab, McConnell proceeded to assess his friend's wound, seeing two distinct bullet holes in his arm. It looked painful but not life threatening. He reached into his first aid kit and pulled out two bandages. He carefully began wrapping the arm with the pieces of cloth.

"You're going to be alright buddy." He said patting him on the shoulder, "Good thing you're right handed." He then turned and shouted to the guys downstairs, "All clear, tell the others to get in here! Norman the roofs all yours!"

While he was taking care of Irvin, West was still looking around the room and immediately noticed something out of the ordinary.

"These assholes were setting up a machine gun in here."

He walked over to the window where the half-finished gun was set up. Sure enough it would have been pointing right at the rest of the squad across the street. Had they shown up a minute later, the mission would have ended barely after it began. McConnell, upon seeing the setup, immediately hatched an idea.

"Do you think you can finish setting it up?" McConnell asked.

"Definitely." West responded, already catching on to what he had in mind.

Meanwhile across the street, the fighting was only getting more intense. It became more and more clear that they had disturbed a hornet's nest. Sergeant Nelson was running out of time and patience.

"Come on Isaac what's taking so long, we don't have all day." The squad leader muttered to himself.

Just then, he noticed Isaac stick his head out, giving the signal that they were cleared to come inside.

"There, everybody inside now! Jacobson pick up Daniels, we'll cover you!" Nelson ordered

Instantly all the remaining soldiers were sprinting to the house, desperate to get to better cover. It was only a 50 foot run, but it felt like 50 miles. The whole time Sergeant Nelson shouting orders.

"Keep moving!"

"GO, GO, GO!"

"Don't Sto-"

…

The soldiers turned around to see Nelson on the ground, in a puddle of blood that was slowly growing bigger. Immediately, two of the soldiers turned back, all concern for their own safety forgotten. Despite the whirlwind of bullets, they managed to run back to the fallen leader. Upon closer inspection, it was apparent that Nelson was alive, but in very bad shape. The bullet had struck him in the neck, and he was bleeding profusely. He couldn't be moved without some type of treatment, and it was too dangerous to stay outside, so one of the soldiers stuck their thumb in the wound, stopping the bleeding. Carefully, they picked him up, making sure to keep the wound plugged. Slowly, they made their way back to the house, relying solely on the covering fire provided by their comrades to keep them safe, luckily West had finished setting up the machine gun and was laying down a massive amount of firepower. They had just made it to the door, two steps from being in the clear, when one of the soldiers was struck in the back.

"Stevens got hit too!" Someone yelled.

Isaac was quick to grab the wounded man and drag him in. Finally, everyone was inside, but the situation wasn't getting any less dangerous. Once the soldier was able to get a real bandage, she removed her thumb from Nelsons neck and properly bandaged his wound.

"Peterson calm down!"

"NO!"

Just then a fist made contact with her face, the wind immediately knocked out of her, but she managed to stay on her feet. She looked up to see one of her team mates standing over her, venom in his eyes, being held back to two others.

"This is all your fucking fault!" He shouted, "We were supposed to lay low and observe, not start a fucking fire fight!"

"Peterson you need to calm down, we're still in the middle that fire fight!" Said Isaac, trying to defuse the situation.

"What the fuck were you thinking?!" Peterson continued.

"We've been after that enemy officer for weeks, I finally found an opportunity." She finally spoke.

"Great!" Peterson said, sarcastically, "You got one guy. Now all of us are going to die!"

"I made a call, and we got him!"

"Fuck you Bosak! No wonder your father is so hard on you!"

To this she said nothing.

"THAT'S ENOUGH!" Isaac finally snapped

Suddenly a rocket came out of nowhere, striking the second floor and detonating, rocking the whole building.

"West!" McConnell screamed

The rocket had hit directly in the machine gunners window. McConnell was knocked off his feet but immediately recovered. He quickly ran over to check the fallen gunner, but it was too late.

"McConnell, what's going on up there?!" Isaac shouted from down stairs.

"West is gone."

* * *

 **Twelve hours later**

"We stayed in that house for an hour until reinforcements were finally able to reach us. By then Sergeant Nelson had also died, and the number of wounded had reached six."

"Well if you don't mind me prodding. Your orders, as I understood them, were to only observe and assess any potential threats. So how did the fire fight even start?"

…

"Well?"

"To be honest sir, it all happened so fast, I'm not sure how it started. The village was crawling with insurgents, any one of them could have spotted us and started shooting."

"I see. And the militia leader was confirmed killed, correct?"

"Yes sir."

"And how many other insurgents would you say were killed?"

"Too many for me to remember sir"

"Very well." He sighed. "Although the loss of Sergeant Nelson and Corporal West is devastating, at least we gained something from it. With that leader out of the picture, their chain of command will be in chaos for a while, long enough for us to deal some significant damage to their forces. HQ is going to be very happy with this one."

…

"How are the remaining members of the team doing?"

"After everything that's happened, as well as they can be sir."

"Understandable. Do you have anything else to add?"

"No sir."

"Thank you Corporal Isaac, this concludes the after action report. Dismissed."

"Yes sir."

Isaac stepped out of the office. The remainder of the team was waiting quietly, since they got back no one said much. Isaac, Kowalski, Norman and Bosak were the only ones to make it back unscathed, at least physically. Bosak, though her face was expressionless was intentionally avoiding eye contact with the others.

"So how'd it go?" Kowalski asked.

"I just told them what happened."

"And what did they say?"

"They were pleased to hear that we killed the leader of the militia group."

"What about the fact that we lost two thirds of our squad?"

"They were more focused on the fact that we killed a high ranking enemy leader and the fact that it's going to hurt the enemy forces in that town."

"Do they not realize that they've probably already instated a new leader?" Kowalski asked, his patience running low.

"How would they realize that? They've never fought them face to face."

"So that's it? Two guys are dead, six more are mangled and they're focused how this affects the enemy?!" Norman chimed in.

"That's how they operate Norman, they're high ranking officers. All they want to see are the results, so they can brag about what they accomplished so they look good in the eyes of those in charge of them. No one cares about what happened to the men and women who sacrificed to make that happen, to get the results they wanted." Isaac said with a bitter tone in his voice.

His mind was in a million places at once, he wasn't sure which was more upsetting, the fact that they had lost so much, or the fact that no one seemed to give a damn. He was angry, but as the new squad leader he had to keep cool in front of his subordinates.

"This is bullshit. Why are they like this?"

"We're private military contractors Norman, we're a dime a dozen. The longer you stay in this business, the more you'll realize it's all about money."

Norman didn't know what to say. He was the newest member of the team and didn't have a lot of experience as a PMC. He was upset but he'd be lying to himself if he said that he wasn't also focused on the money; that the sole reason that he even took the job was because it paid well. Not wanting to dwell on the subject, he asked another question.

"What about the fact that…we weren't supposed to start fighting?"

Norman was being kind, he didn't want to single anyone out, but everyone knew who he was talking about. All eyes turned to the only female squad member.

"I told them it was too chaotic to tell what happened." Isaac responded

"When the others are out of the hospital and give their after action reports, some of them might not say the same. They'll know exactly what happened." Kowalski pointed out.

"By the time they're out, HQ won't even remember or care about what happened."

"And if they do?"

"Then we'll deal with it when we have to, until then, the report has already been given."

Silence fell between the four of them, the whole time Bosak hadn't said a single word. Not because she didn't care, she was just lost in her own thoughts, and as much as she tried to hide it, the others could see it.

"Look, we're all still in shock over what happened yesterday. We need to get some rest, let's just take it easy for now and then we can talk about what happened later okay?"

Norman and Kowalski nodded in agreement. Still, Bosak didn't say anything; she just turned and started walking back to her tent. On the outside she kept her usual demeanor on her face, seemingly devoid of emotion. But in her head she just kept flashing back to the day before, the events replaying in her mind over and over again. Every moment from the time she fired the first shot, to loading bodies into the vehicles that came to rescue them. She wasn't sure what haunted her more, the fact that every time she closed her eyes, she would relive an image of that dreadful fire fight, or the fact that each one was followed by her father's voice.

"Elzbieta, I don't understand."

"What will it take for you to listen?"

"What will it take for you to stop messing up?"

"What will it take to be like your sister?"

"What will it take?"

* * *

Author's Note: Happy 2018 Everyone. So this is my first ever fanfic, I hope you enjoyed it. I've got most of the story written in my head now I just need to transfer it to paper. I'm not sure how often I'll be able to update this but I'm trying for at least every two or three weeks. With that being said, please leave a review and let me know what you think. Until next time.


	2. Chapter 1

Authors Note: Well I managed to get this one done way ahead of schedule. Unfortunately vacation time is over and I'm back at work, so I wont be able to update as frequently. Just a warning, if you don't know the operators real names, things might be a little confusing. Also this chapter is a lot more light hearted than the last one. Enjoy.

* * *

What Will It Take?

Chapter 1

* * *

 **Ten Years Later**

 _ **Hereford, England**_

"What could she possibly want now?"

"I don't know, but it's best not to keep her waiting."

Meghan and Eliza, better known as Valkyrie and Ash, were walking down a long hallway of Hereford's headquarters building, having been called by none other than the head of rainbow herself, who goes by the code name "Six". Most people in Rainbow only knew two things about her, she's in charge, and don't piss her off.

"Eliza, I swear to God, if this is about another blown up wall I'm not covering for you again."

"What makes you think that I…" The glare she received silenced her question.

"Seriously, every time you destroy something, you're not the only one she yells at, she likes to yell at me too, for some reason." Meghan said, annoyed.

"It's because of all the Americans on the team, you're the most responsible and you're the only one who gives a damn if Six yells at you."

"No, it's not because of that. She yells at us because you keep blowing up things that weren't intended to be blown up."

"I'll just tell her Sledge did it."

Meghan took in a deep breath in order to calm her growing frustration.

"Please, just behave yourself when we get in there."

"Yes mom."

As the two women approached the entrance to Six's office, they noticed someone standing outside, their fellow operative Smoke.

"Ah James, I see you've been summoned here as well." Meghan greeted.

"Morning ladies, and yeah, no idea why either." The man responded

"Maybe it's about that wall Sledge broke." Eliza chimed in, immediately receiving a punch in the shoulder from Meghan.

"Ow!"

"What did I tell you? Behave yourself."

"Nah we took care of that rubbish." The Brit responded. "Thatcher and I hid his hammer, now he's only allowed to have it during missions and training purposes."

"You can do that?" Meghan asked.

"Don't know, don't care, at least now things aren't getting broken." James answered.

Meghan stared at Eliza, a contemplative look on her face.

"Absolutely not!" Eliza shouted, knowing just what her friend was thinking.

"If you three are done out there, please come in." A voice came from inside. Making all three of them jump.

"And so it begins." Eliza muttered.

All three of them walked into the large office. Behind the desk sat an older, dark skinned woman, who was in charge of the most lethal anti-terrorism organization the world has ever seen. She wasn't the original holder of that title, it had been passed down through many different agents over the past few decades, but she was the first female to obtain the legendary name. In front of her were three files laid out on her desk.

"Thank you three for finally joining me." She greeted as the three operators walked up to her.

"Good morning ma'am, how can we help you?" Meghan asked.

"I have a task for each of you."

"Are the White Masks at it again?" James Questioned

"No, it's nothing along those lines, this is much simpler." Six responded as she grabbed the three files. "We have three new operatives joining us tomorrow and I need each of you to take one under your wing for their first week."

In Rainbow, was customary for a new operator to be guided by a more experienced one for their first week. This was done for a few reasons. One was to show them the ins and outs of how Rainbow worked, since it was unlike any other organization in the world. It was also somewhat of an evaluation phase. Yes, by the time an operator is selected for rainbow, they have passed all the tests and met all the requirements. But test scores and checkboxes were all just paperwork, the ultimate judgement when accepting someone onto the team came from the operators themselves. After all, they would be the ones ultimately putting their lives into your hands, if they didn't feel like they could trust you with that, you didn't make the team, no matter how impressive your profile. It had happened many times before.

"You know the drill, introduce them to the rest of the team and show them the ropes." She continued, "Make sure that their transition from there old units to Rainbow is as fast and as smooth as possible. There's a new operation coming up I need them to be combat ready ASAP."

The three fighters perked up at the thought of a new operation, especially since all of them had missed out on Operation Velvet Shell.

"I specifically chose you three because you each actually have prior experience with your assigned new comer."

Now the three were really intrigued.

"Smoke, you will be looking after an agent coming from the Special Duties Unit." She handed him the man's file.

"China?" James questioned.

"Yes. His name is Liu Tze Long, code name "Lesion".

"Long! Yes, I remember him, we went through the Resistance to Interrogation Program together. He also helped me create the chemical agent in my canisters." James explained, excited at the thought of working with his old friend once more.

"So he knows what's in the canister?" Eliza asked, jokingly.

"Only partially, so he gets to live." He answered, the other two couldn't tell if he was joking.

"Ash." Six called.

"Yes ma'am."

"You'll also be looking after an agent from SDU. Her name is Siu Mei Lin, code name "Ying." Six explained, handing Eliza the folder with Siu's profile.

"Oh Siu. I remember her from Tel Aviv University. Cute little thing, so short, always relaxed and easygoing. I'll look after her." She smiled.

"God help her." Megan muttered under her breath.

"Valkyrie."

Meghan stepped forward, a little confused, even with her extensive career, she had never worked with anyone from SDU.

"Your new operator is coming from Grupa Reagowania Operacyjno Manewrowego." Said Six, with surprisingly accurate pronunciation.

"What?" Asked Eliza

"It's polish for Operational Maneuvering Response Group." James answered.

"What?"

"Poland! The new guy is from Poland you dumb slag!"

"Oh." Was Eliza's only response.

This cleared things up for Meghan as well. Unlike SDU, she had worked extensively with GROM during both of her deployments in the middle east, and now she was curious as to witch of those former colleagues she would have the pleasure to work with again.

"The new comer you will be looking after is named Elzbieta Bosak."

"…crap."

* * *

The three operators were walking back to their quarters; two of them excited to reunite with old friends, the other was left unsure.

"Man, it seems like just yesterday I was looking after you for your first week, huh Meg?" Asked Eliza.

"You mean when I had to look after you?" Meghan responded flatly.

"What are you talking about?"

"On my first day in Rainbow, you blew up my door, dragged me to a bar, and got piss drunk. Then throughout the night, I had to stop you from fighting Alexandr, carry you back to base, stop you from trying to molest Emmanuelle, stop you from fighting Sebastien, drag you back to your room and spent all night making sure you didn't choke to death on your own vomit!"

"See, you were making a great first impression on everyone. Nobody doubted your status as a team member after that, and everybody has trusted your leadership ever since."

"Eliza, please just shut your mouth."

It was true. In Rainbow, there was no rank system, all operators were equal in terms of leadership and authority. However, even in total anarchy humans will still follow who they feel is the best leader, and to many, that was Meghan. Even operators from other countries would still trust her judgment and leadership.

"What's got your panties in a bunch Castellano?" James asked, finally jumping into the conversation. "You're not happy to see Elz whatever her name is?"

"Elzbieta. And honestly…I'm not sure." She responded, stopping to open the file she was given.

"Oh she's cute." Eliza commented upon seeing the profile picture.

"So what's your problem with her? Where do you know her from?" James questioned.

"We served together in Iraq in 2007, and again in Afghanistan in 2009." Meghan explained. "Well, she always had problems listening and following orders."

"So do I, and you still enjoy my company." Eliza interrupted.

"Well, that second part is debatable. As for the first, no, not quite like you." She continued. "In Elzbieta's case, it would be to the point where people would be put in danger. But then she would always accomplish something incredible in return. The mission would get accomplished, but you would be asking yourself if the added danger was worth it."

"Was she at least pleasant to work with?"

"She was very reclusive, never really seemed interested in making friends. Not really interacting with anyone outside of going on missions. In fact, the only time I remember seeing her smile was when an enemy stepped on one of her mines, and see killed them."

"So she likes killing people violently, I think she'll fit in." Eliza Commented.

"Not if she had discipline issues and can't make friends." Added James, "We may be an unusual band of wankers, but we're close, and we're precise, it's one of the reasons we're such a small group and yet so efficient."

"Exactly." Meghan agreed. "Especially since we technically have no leaders, it gives her all the more reason not to listen to anybody."

"I guess we'll have no choice but wait and see." Eliza concluded.

"I guess." Meghan responded.

* * *

"What's wrong with you?" Blackbeard asked as Meghan walked into the common room.

"Oh hey Craig, it's nothing."

"Doesn't seem like it, what's up."

Meghan hesitated to bring it up, but maybe her fellow SEAL could help.

"Do you remember Bosak?" She finally asked. Craig had also served with Elzbieta and Meghan, but only in Afghanistan.

He thought for a moment. "The green haired girl?"

"Yes."

"Yeah I do. Why do you ask?"

"What do you remember about her?"

He leaned back in his chair as he thought, trying to dig up any significant memories about the girl in question.

"Smart, tough, deadly, very efficient in combat…no discipline whatsoever, couldn't follow orders if the world depended on it." Was his response.

"Did she ever talk to you about anything…outside of work I mean?"

"Hmm maybe a few times, I don't think she talked to anyone really."

"Other than Orange Sky I don't think I ever really talked with her."

"That's strange, because one thing I do remember she talked about was that she admired you."

"Me?"

"Yes, she held you in high regards."

"She certainly did a good job of hiding it." She responded, surprised.

"Why are you so curious about her all of a sudden?"

"Because she's joining us tomorrow, and I'm responsible for integrating her into the team."

"Oh." Was his response, trying to hide his surprise. "Well good luck with that, let me know if you need any help"

"Thanks." She said as she got up to leave.

"Oh, by the way, Seamus wants to know if anyone's seen his hammer."

* * *

 **The next morning**

Meghan and James were standing outside of the operator's barracks. The bus carrying the new members was set to arrive soon, and they were anxious to meet them.

"Where the hell is Eliza?" Asked Meghan. "She's going to be late."

"First off, you of all people shouldn't be surprised. Second, if I had to guess. She's either hungover in her room, or hungover in Monika's room." James answered.

"I don't understand how she deals with her."

"Monika doesn't give up on things easily."

Just then, Eliza stepped outside, wearing her signature sunglasses and rubbing the side of her head.

"I stand corrected, she's hungover out here."

"Eliza, nice of you to join us."

The red heads only response was a middle finger to the blondes face.

"Is this really the first impression you want to give your new team mates?"

"Why not? This is what I look like almost every morning, why bother lying to them?"

"Great! Now that that's settled, we got company." James interrupted.

The two women turned to see a bus approaching. As it came to a full stop right in front of them, it opened its doors. A few moments later, an older Chinese man stepped out.

"Long!" James greeted.

"Porter my friend, what are you doing here?" Liu asked, excited to see his old friend.

"I work here now, in fact, I was one of the first guys recruited into this establishment."

"That's amazing, how are the canisters by the way?"

"Still as deadly as ever."

"That's great, I have a few gadgets to show you as well."

While the two friends were catching up, another figure had stepped off the bus.

"Siu?" Eliza asked.

"Yes." The shorter woman answered.

"I'm Eliza Cohen, I'm not sure if you remember me. We went to Tel Aviv together."

"Oh yes I remember, you were the girl who blew up the engineering lab."

"Of course." Meghan muttered.

"Yeah that's me. Anyway, I'll be showing you around for the next week."

"Thanks, I look forward to meeting everyone. By the way, is there a Masaru here?"

"Echo? Yeah, he's on a mission in Spain with most of the others, he'll be back in a few days. Why do you ask?"

"Well, we used to date."

"Oh." Was the response of all three operator's.

"Well you should probably know that he's dating another one of the operators here." Eliza pointed out.

"Oh, I know, we're still friends. I just wanted to surprise him, he doesn't know I'm here."

"Okay then."

"Seriously, it's fine. There's nothing romantic going on between us, we're just friends."

"If you say so. Well, lets get the tour going shall we."

The two women started walking towards the barracks, as they passed by Meghan, Eliza leaned in.

"Yumi isn't going to be happy." She whispered.

"She'll be fine." Meghan reasoned.

She watched the four of them walk away as they rekindled old friendships and started new ones. She didn't notice the third and final passenger had stepped off the bus.

"Ahem."

She turned around to see a girl with vibrant green hair that barely came down to her shoulders. She was wearing a military style backpack, a camouflaged jacket with the GROM patch on her shoulder, and some dark green pants that looked a little too form fitting. She couldn't help but notice that she was avoiding eye contact.

"Lieutenant Castellano." She said.

"Ms. Bosak, pleasure to see you again." Meghan greeted, offering her hand.

The girl said nothing, but accepted the handshake. Then an awkward silence passed between them.

"Um, welcome aboard I'll be showing you around for the next week, getting you introduced to the rest of the team, getting you mission ready, and such." Meghan explained.

Elzbieta merely nodded in response.

"Well…let's get you inside and to your room, you're probably exhausted from your trip out here."

They started walking towards the barracks.

"As you can see, this is where every operator lives, at least when we're not deployed on missions." Meghan explained.

Upon entering the building there was a large open room to the right filled with couches, chairs, a couple of TVs and a small kitchen. To the left was a long hallway with a bunch of closed doors.

"This is the common room, we use this area hang out and occasionally throw a party, usually to celebrate successful missions or a birthday, or if some of us just want to get blackout drunk. Every now and then we'll also hold briefing in here but usually that happens in the office building across the street. That's also where your new boss works, by the way." The SEAL, now tour guide, then pointed to the left at the hallway. "Those are some of the operator's rooms, the rest of the rooms, including yours, are upstairs."

The two women then proceeded up the staircase in the middle of the building. At the top were two more long hallways on the left and right, each with many doors. Each door had a placard, some with an operator's name, some blank for new operators joining in the future.

"Your room is this way." Meghan said, turning left.

They walked a short way, coming to a stop in front of a door with a blank placard.

"Here it is, room 213." She pulled out a set of keys from her pocket and opened the door. Inside was a medium sized room, on one side was a small kitchen area with a fridge, small stove and some cabinets. On the other side was a bed next to a large window, adjacent to those were two doors. "The one on the left is the closet, the one on the right is the bathroom."

Elzbieta looked around the room, as usual, not saying anything or showing any sign of emotion.

"The room is completely covered, thanks to the UN, however things like food, TV and internet you have to pay for yourself." Meghan continued. "Hope you like it, because this is going to be your new home for a while."

She couldn't help but notice the girl take a pause at the last comment.

After a moment, the Polish girl simply put her bag down and continued looking around the room.

"Well, I guess I'll leave you here to rest and get settled in. Later today, we'll continue getting you checked in, mostly just paper work and answering a few questions." She said, handing her the keys.

Again, the girl merely nodded, this was starting to get really awkward.

"Well, I'll come get you later. If you need anything, I'm in room 203 down the hall."

Meghan tuned to leave, but before she closed the door she heard the girls voice.

"Lieutenant Castellano."

Meghan stopped and turned around, realizing that the only two times that Elzbieta had spoken was to say her name.

"It's a pleasure to see you too."

With that the door was closed and Meghan was left to her own thoughts. When she had heard about Elzbieta joining Rainbow, she was unsure to say the least. Now she was even less sure. She began to reflect on her time in the military, remembering the different people she had met and bonds she had made. Soldiers who served together tend to bond quickly. In fact, even soldiers who had only served together a few weeks would usually still have gotten close enough to know whether or not they trusted one another. Meghan and Elzbieta had served together in Iraq, and again in Afghanistan, and yet the GROM fighter was still a complete mystery to her.

Meghan turned to go to her room when suddenly, one of the doors to the empty rooms exploded with a loud boom. After the dust and debris had settled, Eliza's voice could be heard cheering.

"Are you aloud to do that?" Asked Siu.

"Absolutely not." Eliza replied.

Meghan was now seriously considering following the example of her colleagues in the SAS and hiding her friends M120 launcher. She just had to decide if Eliza murdering her in her sleep was worth it.

Only one thing was certain, things were going to get a lot more interesting.

* * *

One thing that I did not foresee when beginning this project was how much filling in the blanks there was. Seriously, the lore is really vague, and the back stories here are possible, but not confirmed. Anyway, I've already started the next chapter and made considerable progress. As always, hope you enjoyed it and feel free to leave a review. Until next time.


	3. Chapter 2

Authors note: So while making this chapter I realized that it was going to take too long to finish writing, let alone the editing. So I pretty much cut the chapter in half to meet my deadline. So the bad news is that this chapter isn't as long or as exciting as I wish, but the good news is that chapter three is about 80% done and should be out in just a few days. Enjoy.

* * *

What Will It Take?

Chapter 2

* * *

Elzbieta sat on her bed, admiring her new room. It wasn't the fanciest of accommodations but still way more than she ever would have expected, especially since it was all free. As Lieutenant Castellano had said, it was her new home, away from the one she just left.

Meghan Castellano. When Elzbieta had taken this job, she didn't know what to expect, and of all things she certainly didn't expect to see the Navy SEAL again. She remembered the when she had first met the young officer in Iraq not long after transferring to GROM. She was a natural leader, and well respected among her peers. During Operation Orange Sky, the two had worked together for several months, infiltrating a powerful warlords inner circle. Eventually, the two were able to bring down his entire militia, and the best part was that not a single innocent civilian was harmed. It was Elzbieta's proudest military achievement, but also one with many headaches. The two would often clash when it came to different procedures and strategies. By the end of the operation, she didn't know if she respected the woman, or hated her guts.

It wouldn't be until two years later, when they served together again in Afghanistan, that Elzbieta knew that the woman in question was the real deal. During a fierce firefight, their team of twenty soldiers was ambushed by nearly a hundred insurgents and cut off from reinforcements. Under the leadership of Castellano, not only did they repel the enemy attack, they didn't lose a single soldier in the whole battle. From there, she never questioned the SEAL again.

In her reminiscing, she suddenly remembered something. She grabbed her bag and started digging around inside. She found an old sketchbook and started flipping through the pages, they were mostly filled with hand drawn maps and battle plans, but there were also several drawings. Before becoming a PMC in 2003, she attempted to study arts in Berlin for two years. While in the middle east she would use what she learned to draw during the very little down time she would get. Eventually she found what she was looking for, it was a sketch of the woman currently occupying her thoughts. Drawn with her shemagh, eye black, and with a friendly smirk on her face, Elzbieta had sketched the picture not long after Orange Sky.

It's been eight years, and overall she was happy to be reunited with Meghan, but uncertain about joining Rainbow. Everyone who became an operator for the organization did so because they wanted to fight bad guys, even at the risk of losing their lives. How would Meghan, and the rest of them, react if they found out she joined for a different reason, a selfish reason? For now, she would rather not find out, they didn't need to know anyway. She closed the book and set it on the nightstand. She removed her jacket, leaving her in a white tank top. She then laid down, exhaustion from the trip finally catching up to her and she fell asleep.

Meghan was sitting in her room eating lunch and filling out some paper work. Whenever a piece of Hereford base property was damaged or destroyed, a damaged property form had to be filed. After befriending Eliza, Meghan kept an entire stack of copies in her room. After finishing up this most recent one, she sat back and was finally able to relax.

Being a Rainbow operator was a lot of hard work, both on and off the field. In some ways it was a good thing, because yes, the pay was amazing, but in Meghan's opinion you couldn't take this job without honestly wanting to do some good in the world. It was why she joined the military in the first place, and her never back down attitude is what lead her to become one of the first female Navy SEAL's in history. And when Rainbow started to consider her, she was one of the few candidates that Six never had any concerns about. Her interviews with her were short and simple.

Meghan knew this wasn't always the case, Six had a way of making a person uncomfortable simply by talking with them. She could make someone second guess themselves or question everything they had been told. Meghan remembered her friend Craig didn't get it so easy, it was the only time she had seen him struggle and question if he was good enough. She couldn't imagine Eliza and Six being in a room together without some sparks flying, possibly literally. Then she started wondering how Elzbieta's interview went with Six. Speaking of which, she should probably start the check in process with the girl.

"Nearly one o'clock," She said to herself, "surly that's enough time for her to have settled in by now."

She got up to leave, but then she realized she had only given herself a two-minute break all day, all week really.

"Maybe another hour." She said as she laid back down, almost instantly falling asleep.

* * *

"Nelson is looking pretty bad!"

"Plug the wound, hurry!"

"Shit! Jacobson is down too!"

"Norman where the fuck is our back up?!"

"I'm trying to get them on the radio!"

"Someone get on that machine gun!"

Bullets were flying in all directions, bodies of the dead and wounded littered on both sides. The team of soldiers were desperate to get out of the situation they were in. The ones that were still combat effective had to split their efforts between fighting off the assault and tending to the wounded.

"He's losing blood, do something!"

Elzbieta knelt down and looked at the bleeding man. He was incredibly pale, and not moving. She removed the bandage she had placed earlier, blood still leaking from the wound. She opened her first aid kit and pulled out a few bandages and tools. She began to attempt to properly close the wound, but her hands were shaking.

" _I've taught you this little sister."_

She tried to steady her hands to clasp the wound.

" _Steady your mind, stop overthinking."_

Her hand slipped.

" _Your life and your friend's lives might rely on this one day."_

More blood.

" _What are you doing?"_

Another attempt.

" _Pay attention!"_

Another slip of the hand.

" _Don't lose focus!"_

More blood.

" _Don't give up."_

Another attempt.

" _You're better than this."_

Another slip.

No more blood. No more heartbeat.

" _Ela…"_

Knock, knock, knock.

" _What will it take for you to focus?"_

Knock, knock, knock.

" _What will it take for you to do better?"_

Knock, knock, knock.

Elzbieta woke with a gasp. Breathing heavily, it took a few moments for her to remember where she was. She was sweating profusely, her nightmare still resonating in her brain. Then there was another knock at the door.

She got up and answered the door, seeing Meghan standing there.

"Hey." She greeted. Then took a closer look at the green haired girl. "Are you okay?"

"Yes, I'm fine." Elzbieta responded.

"You're crying…"

The Polish girl touched her face and realized along with sweat, tears were in fact running down her cheeks. She quickly turned away to wipe away the moisture from her face.

"What's going on."

"It's nothing, I'm okay." She insisted.

Meghan wanted to pry, but deep down she knew the girl would not open up, at least for now. She figured instead the girl in front of her would appreciate changing the subject.

"Um, we should get this paperwork started."

Elzbieta nodded in response as she put her jacket back on.

"Okay, lets go to the lounge." Meghan said as she turned to walk downstairs.

"Lieutenant Castellano?"

"You don't need to call me that." Meghan responded, turning back to her. "Just call me Meghan, or Valkyrie."

"Meghan." The girl said, almost as if testing the name. "Can you…keep this between us?"

"Of course."

"Thank you…you can call me Ela."

"You prefer to go by your code name?" Meghan asked.

"It was also my childhood nickname."

Meghan nodded at the admission, thinking the name was kind of pretty.

"Well Ela, let's get started."

* * *

Three hours later, the two were still in the lounge finishing the last few papers for the day. Even though both had just rested, they were still trying not to fall asleep from the mind-numbing process. A few of their team mates were utilizing the common area as well. Buck and Capitao were watching a soccer game on one of the TVs, Frost was on one of the couches reading a hunting catalog, while Blackbeard was polishing a few of his rifle shields. Meghan had tried to introduce her old friend to them, but introductions went about as awkward as one would expect. So they just took one of the tables in the corner and began the tedious work.

"So, this is the weapons accountability form." Meghan explained. "This is acknowledging that your weapons and all accessories shall be kept in the armory here on Hereford Base, however your personal equipment, aka your grzmot mines, will be kept and maintained with you since you're the only one qualified with the knowledge and expertise to handle them. And yes, Sledge had to sign one of these saying he knew how to use a hammer."

Ela smiled at the thought, the first time Meghan had seen her do so today. She took the form and signed it. Meghan then pulled out yet another form.

"This is the second part of the form." She continued, "This is just a list of said weapons that you brought and are being submitted into the armory, just make sure everything is correct and sign."

Ela looked over the form, reading the list of guns.

WEAPONS ACCOUNTED FOR:

-Scorpion EVO 3 A1 Serial Number; 11081985

-FO-12 Serial Number; 08292017

-RG15 Serial Number; 07131990

"You can also get special attachments to your weapons as well, sights, compensators and such." Meghan explained, "But that also has to come out of your paycheck."

Ela made a mental note of that and signed the form.

"And with that, I think we're finally done." Meghan said, sounding relieved.

Just then, Eliza and Siu walked in. The two were talking and laughing among one another. They noticed Meghan and Ela and walked over to their table.

"Hey guys, what have you been up to?" Eliza asked.

"Hello, we just finished the first set of paperwork and now we're just hanging out in here." Meghan elaborated.

"You mean there's more?" Ela asked defeatedly.

"Yes, unfortunately." Meghan answered, also defeatedly. "So, what have you guys been doing?"

"We've just been talking about our time at Tel Aviv, and sharing battle stories." Eliza said, "In fact, we learned the craziest thing, not only did we go to the same university, but we also fought in Operation High Sun as well."

"Yes, it was my first combat mission." Siu added.

"Not only that, but she was the girl that I had to stop from killing Shuhrat, I didn't recognize her it's been so long."

"Small world." Meghan commented.

"Yes, I remember everything going well, until that crazy Russian got involved. I hope I never see him again."

The blonde and the redhead looked at each other, not knowing who should deliver the news. Finally, Eliza spoke up.

"Shuhrat Kessikbayev. Um, yeah, he's kind of also an operator here."

Siu looked at them in surprise. "After the crap he pulled during High Sun?!" She exclaimed. "Why? How?"

"Calm down Siu." Said Eliza, "He's not as reckless anymore, he's only blown up the hostage a couple times."

"WHAT?!"

"I'm kidding." Eliza joked. "But seriously, he's been I vital asset to the team since it was formed, and I know he will be in the future. Six wouldn't keep him on the team if she thought otherwise, and the same goes for you, for all of us."

Siu didn't seem convinced.

"It was thirteen years ago," Eliza continued, "he's changed a lot since then."

After thinking for a while, Siu finally relented.

"Alright, I'll give him a chance, where is he?" She looked around, "In fact, where is everybody?"

Ela also couldn't help but notice that there seemed to be very few personnel roaming around. She knew rainbow was small, but surly it took more people than this to run an anti-terrorism organization.

"Oh, right." Said Meghan, "There are thirty operators in rainbow, well thirty-three now, and twenty of them are currently participating in Operation Velvet Shell in Spain. The rest of us were left here to hold down the fort."

"When will they be back?" Siu asked.

"When the missions complete."

"So you have no idea." Ela interpreted.

"Pretty much, it happens a lot."

"Oh they're mission is complete. They're just taking advantage of the night club they saved being so thankful." Sebastien chimed in.

"What do you mean?" asked Eliza

"Curtesy of Dominic, just hit play." He said as he tossed his phone to her, she caught it and saw a video loaded up on the screen, at which she hit the play button.

Sure enough, the video was of what looked like a high-class night club filled with a bunch of people partying by the pool. Among the partygoers, Eliza recognized a few of her fellow operators. Suddenly, the video focused on one of her friends, Taina, who was dressed in a bikini and dancing in a very un-operator like way. Eliza's jaw dropped.

"You have to send this to me." She said.

"Already did, check your inbox."

"Eliza, is Monika going to be okay with you having that?" Meghan asked, concerned.

"She won't mind, trust me."

"What wont I mind?" Came a voice from behind her.

Eliza turned around and saw two new faces having entered the lounge, it was the two GSG-9 operators that were picked to stay back. Marius Streicher aka Jager, and Monika Weiss aka IQ.

"Oh, hey Monika." Eliza greeted. She then walked over to the girl and kissed her on the cheek. "This is Siu, we went to Tel Aviv together and she's a new team member. Siu, this is Monika, a fellow operator, and my girlfriend."

"Nice to meet you." Siu greeted, as she stuck her hand out.

"Likewise." Monika responded, shaking the girls hand.

"So where have you been all day babe?" Eliza asked, wrapping her arm around the Germans shoulder.

"In a meeting with Six, we've got an announcement to make, but first…" She snatched the redheads phone while she was distracted. "let's see what it is that I won't mind."

"Hey!"

In an instant the blonde unlocked Eliza's phone and began watching the video. "Hmm, interesting."

"See, told you guys- "

Without warning, Monika grabbed Eliza by the ponytail and pulled her head so it was right next to hers.

"We'll discuss this later." Monika said, she then let go of her girlfriends hair and turned towards Ela, "I see we have another new face as well."

She offered a hand, "Monika Weiss, GSG-9."

Ela accepted the handshake, "Ela Bosak, GROM." She greeted back.

"Welcome aboard, I trust you will enjoy working here."

"Thank you."

Just then, three more people walked in.

"For the last time Seamus, I don't know where your hammer is!" James said, annoyance in his voice. He then saw Meghan and Ela with a large stack of papers on their table. "What are you two doing?"

"Just getting this paperwork out of the way." Meghan answered. "We've been doing this all afternoon."

"Why didn't you just take it to the administration office?"

"The what?"

"The administration office down the road, they fill out all these papers in about thirty minutes."

"Has that always been there?" Eliza asked.

"Yes. Have you guys been doing this yourselves?"

Both women didn't bother answering.

"Bloody Americans, I swear."

At this time, Marius decided he had enjoyed the show long enough and spoke up.

"Alright, since the gangs all here," He said, "we have a training session tomorrow, Hereford training yard, same as usual. This is coming from Six herself, I guess she wants to see our new friends in action, and because we will be getting a new mission brief within the next few days."

There was excitement from the group, having been left behind for the current Operation.

"Does that mean the rest of the team will be back soon?" Vicente asked.

"I didn't get an exact date, but very soon indeed."

"Alright Siu, I look forward to see you in action." Eliza said.

"And I look forward to seeing you as well, Eliza." Siu responded.

Meghan and Ela looked at each other.

"Ready to work together again?" Meghan asked.

Ela smiled. "Definitely."

"Seamus, I found your hammer."

* * *

So next chapter we will finally get to see some action again. I know it doesn't quite fit the game but in most military units a small group is left behind to manage things back at home. Plus I didn't want to cram too many character introductions at once. And on that note, I am trying to get every operator to have at least a small part in the story, so fear not Tachanka fans, your lord will be here soon. Also if you haven't noticed already I have changed the story rating to M because if the current content doesn't already warrant it, future content definitely will. As always feel free to leave a review. Until next time.


	4. Chapter 3

Author's note: Well, as promised, chapter three is out sooner than normal. Not much to say here, just enjoy the story.

* * *

What Will It Take?

Chapter 3

* * *

Ela and Meghan were sitting next to each other in the corner. They were in the main training building of Hereford Base where the operators would hone their skills before going on missions. They had chosen the armory to defend their "bio-hazard container", it was really just a box with yellow strobe lights taped to the side. Currently, Meghan was looking through the cameras she had placed with her phone.

"Got 'em, first floor, main entrance." She had spotted a few members of the opposing team coming through the doorway on the floor above them. "Buck and Blackbeard, can't see anyone else."

Right now, Ela and Valkyrie were hiding behind the concrete barrier in the corner, Frost was on the other side of the room behind a stack of boxes, overlooking the corridor watching the base of the stairs, Lesion was taking cover behind a set of lockers just outside the armory, and lastly Smoke was hiding in the briefing room across from the objective. For training purposes, they were using paint rounds and all necessary gadgets were adjusted to be non-lethal.

"They're moving down the hall," Meghan reported. "into the side room."

"Just a bit closer…" Frost commented.

*POP*

On the camera feed, they saw Blackbeard step on one of Frost's welcome mats. Buck immediately stopping to help his "wounded" ally.

"Yes!" She exclaimed. She then started running up the stairs.

"Frost, no!" Meghan warned over the radio.

"Don't worry, while he's helping him, I'll pick them both off."

"Damnit get back here, ya bloody Eskimo!" Smoke ordered.

Frost didn't respond, she continued up the stairs. She could hear the two men struggling in one of the adjacent rooms. She began to sneak towards them, but as she passed by a connecting corridor, she didn't notice the three women who had entered the garage. In an instant, Ying had put multiple shots into the Eskimo. By then, Buck had managed to pry Blackbeard out of the trap.

"Damnit Frost."

The two men continued down the stairs, while Ash, Ying and IQ climbed down the ladder into the basement.

"They're coming." Meghan warned.

As they advanced, Blackbeard didn't notice one of Ela's GRZMOT mines, a loud boom resonating in throughout the building. The concussion caused him to stumble around, onto one of Lesions poison darts. While he was distracted and couldn't run, Smoke tossed one of his canisters out the door and set it off. Finally, Blackbeard was considered "dead" and he laid down.

"Fucking traps, I swear!" He exclaimed.

"Shut up wanker, you're supposed to be dead." Smoke yelled to him, inadvertently giving away his position.

Ying immediately threw in one of her candelas, multiple flashes going off at once. The device causing smoke to go blind temporarily.

Seizing the opportunity, Buck rushed in and shot the defender multiple times. Lesion attempted to move in and help his friend but by doing so he moved into the line of fire of IQ, who immediately took him down. Now it was just Valkyrie and Ela against four opponents.

"Great." Meghan said.

Ela had to think fast, this was her element, where she would always excel, simulation or not. She quickly looked around the room, looking for anything she could use to her advantage. Suddenly she noticed something about the layout of the room, there was a considerable gap between the walls and the ceiling. She looked at Valkyrie and gave her a confident smirk.

"Follow my lead." Was all she said. She then got up and started moving toward the door.

"What?! Ela wait!" Meghan called, not knowing what was going on but following her teammate anyway.

Ela took out one of her mines and threw it up in the air, the arc of the throw managing to thread through the gap in the wall and landing on the other side, right at the feet of the four remaining attackers. The four of them barely had enough time to process what was happening before the gadget detonated, concussing all of them.

Ela rushed out the door with Meghan right behind. Ela immediately dropped to the ground while Valkyrie took a knee. The two of them raising their SMG's and unloading both of their magazines into the attackers. Just like that, the round was over.

"Alright, alright," Jager said as he walked in, "good round everyone, head back and resupply before we start the next one."

"Jeez, you didn't have to use all your rounds." Said Eliza.

"It's going to take forever to clean off all this paint." Monika commented

"Don't worry babe, I'll clean you up." Eliza winked.

Monika didn't respond, instead she grabbed Eliza by the ponytail and dragged her out of the building.

"Ow, ow, ow babe I'm not into hair pulling!"

Everyone got up and began exiting the building, heading towards the resupply station, also cleaning off as much paint as they could.

"Hey Ela." Meghan called. "Good work back there."

Ela smiled back. "Just like old times."

* * *

Half an hour later, the next round had started. The defenders had chosen the top floor this time, since it had less points of entry. Ela had placed a mine next to each doorway while Valkyrie managed to throw a camera outside. They already knew where the enemy team was coming from.

"Doorway, middle of the stairwell." Valkyrie called out.

"Got it." Ela responded. She had a carved out a little hole in the wall overlooking said doorway, waiting to ambush the unsuspecting attackers.

Suddenly, the wooden barricade began to break, she readied her gun. Finally, it shattered and behind it she saw Capitao and Buck. Immediately she fired a burst at the two attackers, Capitao went down as Buck fell back and returned fire.

Ela decided to retreat back to the room with the bio-container, where Meghan and the rest of the team were held up.

"Good kill there." Meghan complimented.

"Easy." Ela responded.

Just then, the barricade adjacent to the room started to shatter.

"I got this one." Meghan said.

She ran over to the doorway just as the wood broke down. Ash and Sledge were on the other side. Valkyrie began firing at the door, taking out Ash and startling Sledge who began to return fire. While the two were in their little fire fight. Valkyrie didn't notice the window open behind her. Looking into the building was none other than Ying, instead of her usual T-95, she was sporting her SIX12 shotgun, and she was pointing it point blank at Valkyrie's back.

"Meghan lookout!" Ela yelled. Without thinking, she was up and running towards the SEAL. She managed to push her ally out of the way, but in doing so, put herself right in the line of fire from Ying.

She felt two impacts to the side of her torso and immediately hit the ground in pain. These were in fact, simulation rounds and there was going some pain involved, but something was off. The wind was completely knocked out of her, and the usual sting wasn't subsiding, it was growing, so much that Ela began to scream.

"Ela, are you okay?" Valkyrie asked.

"I don't think so." Ela answered, clutching her side.

Ying and Sledge noticed what was happening and stopped what they were doing. Sledge even called for the training to come to a pause, letting the other operators know to stop as well.

For Ela, it hurt to even breath, she was gritting her teeth and shutting her eyes from pain at her side. Something had gone wrong with Ying's paint rounds. At first, she thought that maybe there had been a mix up and had used real shotgun rounds. But she then realized that two real buckshot rounds wouldn't hurt her, she would be dead. She felt around her side and noticed there were no entry wounds, so thankfully she hadn't actually been shot, but she had been hit hard none the less.

" _Get up for God's sake!"_ It was her father's voice.

" _Haven't I trained you better?!"_ She tried to push herself up.

 _What will it take for you to try harder?!"_ She fell back down.

" _Get up!"_ She couldn't.

"Ela, let me help you up." It was a different voice.

Ela opened her eyes. She saw Meghan staring back at her, offering a hand. She grabbed on and Meghan slowly helped her get to her feet. She draped one of Ela's arms over her neck and wrapped an arm around Ela's waist, careful not to touch her wound and worsen her pain.

"I'm taking her back to the barracks." Meghan said. "Eliza, can you and Monika take our weapons back to the armory for us?"

"Of course." Eliza responded, grabbing the guns.

"Alright, that's enough for today guys." Jager said, "Let's pack up and head back. Ying, we're going to have to take a look at your weapon after this."

* * *

It was only a short walk back to the barracks, but it seemed longer do to the pain, and how slowly they had to walk.

"Unfortunately, Doc isn't here," Meghan told her, "but thankfully I know a thing or two."

They made their way up the stairs and eventually stopped at Meghan's room. She pulled out her key and opened the door. She then walked over to her bed and sat Ela down.

"Let's get this jacket off you." Meghan said, and she helped the Polish girl strip off the camouflaged clothing. Then she helped Ela lay down on the bed.

"Wait here, I'll get some ice." She said as she walked over to her freezer.

As she waited, Ela looked around the room. Meghan's room was simple, without a lot of decoration. She had a laptop on one of her tables, on the counter were a few of her black eye cameras. The only thing that stood out in the room was her Navy dress blues hanging on the wall, adorned with various medals and ribbons, each one representing an event or achievement in the SEAL's carrier. Ela imagined Meghan wearing the military uniform, thinking the blonde women would look fairly attractive in pristine outfit.

"Here." Meghan said, pulling Ela out of her thoughts.

In her hand was a bag of ice wrapped in cloth. She began to lift up Ela's tank top, taking the girl by surprise as her stomach and bra were exposed. Ela looked away as her face began to turn red with embarrassment, no one had ever seen her like this before. Meghan, oblivious to the girl's discomfort placed the icepack on her injury, she winced at first but the cold soon began to help with the pain.

"Hold this here." Meghan instructed, placing Ela's hand on the pack. "You want something to drink?"

Ela nodded, and Meghan began to look through her cabinets. Soon she pulled out a bottle of bourbon and poured some into a glass. She brought the glass to her "patient". Ela took the drink and began to sip the alcoholic beverage. She wasn't a big drinker, but she figured anything to dull the pain in her side would help.

"Let me see." Meghan said and lifted the icepack.

She gently felt around the injury, checking for any abnormalities, making Ela's blush worsen, not used to this much physical contact.

"Well, the good news is, nothing is broken. The bad news is, there's still probably a couple hairline fractures. It's going to heal in a few days, but you shouldn't really move too much until then."

"What about training?" Ela asked.

"Don't even think about it."

Suddenly, Meghan's door opened.

"Hey, you guys in here?! Oh!"

Eliza, Monika, and Siu had walked into the room and were surprised by the scene in front of them. Only then did Ela think to cover her chest, the bullets didn't kill her, but the embarrassment just might.

"Have you ever heard of knocking?" Meghan asked, highly annoyed.

"Damn Meg, reunited only a day and you've already got her in bed." Eliza said jokingly.

Meghan started looking around for something she could throw at the red head, but before she could, Monika stepped in.

"Don't make any more trouble for yourself than you're already in Ms. Cohen." The German said as she pointed her finger her girlfriend's chest and pushing her against the wall. "Don't forget, we still have to discuss the video from yesterday."

For once, Meghan saw fear in her friend's eye's. Even after being shot at and blown up many times in the past, she had never seen Eliza scared. The situation would have been hilarious if it weren't for the fact that this was supposed to be a private moment. "Why are you guys here?"

Siu finally spoke up. "I wanted to make sure Ela was okay and to apologize for what happened. We looked at my SIX12, we found out that the paint rounds I was given were defective, there was too much gun powder inside and they shot with more velocity than intended."

To Ela, the apology seemed unnecessary, there was no way she could have known about the defective rounds.

"You don't have to apologize, I know you meant no harm." Ela assured her.

"So, we're good?" Siu asked.

"Yes, we're good."

The Chinese woman looked relieved.

Meghan was glad that issue was resolved, but could sense Ela's growing discomfort. "Okay, now that that's settled, she needs rest." She said as she ushered the three women out.

"Get well soon Bosak, I want a rematch." Eliza said as the door was shut.

Meghan sighed, anything involving Eliza felt like running a marathon.

"Sorry about her." She said.

"Your friends are…interesting." Ela commented.

"Well that's pretty much everyone here in Rainbow, you don't exactly make it onto a team like this by being normal." Meghan decided to pour a glass for herself.

Ela thought about the statement, and she had to agree. This wasn't a normal job for normal people, even she knew that she was far from the epitome of normality.

"You can put your shirt down now, by the way."

Ela looked down at her half naked body and immediately pulled her tank top back down, she couldn't remember the last time she had blushed this much. Meghan laughed, and at first Ela wanted to snap but remembered that the SEAL was the only one helping her out during this whole situation.

"Thanks for the help." She said quietly.

"I should be thanking you really." Ela looked at her, confused. "You pushed me out of the way."

Meghan gave the injured girl a thankful smile, this made the green haired girl blush even more.

"You should get some rest, lets get you back to your room." She put her drink down and help Ela to her feet.

The pain had subsided enough for Ela no longer needing to lean on Meghan, but the blonde still wanted to be there for her just in case. They made there way down the hall to Ela's room.

"Well, this was some second day huh?" Meghan said.

"Could have a lot better." Ela responded.

They made their way into Ela's room and Ela laid down on her bed.

"I'll go to the medical station and get you some actual pain medication. For now, keep using the ice pack, I'll bring you another one and some food later."

"You don't have to do that?"

"I'm supposed to look after you, and I've already let you get hurt."

Ela took a moment to process that statement. Did Meghan really think her injury was her fault? Before she had a chance to ask, Meghan got up to leave.

"Get some rest okay. If you need anything just give me a call."

"Thank you"

* * *

Meghan was filling out some paperwork, yet again, reporting on the injury of the newest operator. Injuries weren't uncommon, due to the practices of the organization, but was still something that had to be reported to Six regardless of severity and circumstances of the injury. Meghan would report this to her boss in the morning.

"Hey Meg, you here?" Came Eliza's voice.

Meghan really needed to start locking her door. "Yeah, I'm here."

"Where's Ela?"

"I took her back to her room."

Eliza sat down on Meghan's bed. "You filling out the report?"

"Yes. I'm sending it to Six tomorrow." Meghan said as she finished the last piece of the report. "So, I see Monika hasn't killed you."

"I told you, she doesn't mind."

"That's not what the expression on her face said earlier."

"Don't get me wrong, I'm not getting any for at least a week, but I'm still her favorite FBI agent."

Meghan gave Monika a lot of credit, it took a lot of patience to handle being Eliza's friend, she couldn't imagine what it took to be her girlfriend.

"Speaking of getting any, you get to see anything else after we left."

"No! In fact, she was uncomfortable, so I had her put her shirt back on."

"So, you got even less, that's rough. When was the last time you even got laid?"

Meghan, was losing her patience. "That's none of your business, and it's not rough because that was never my intension in the first place."

"Well, I'm just saying, if you don't, someone else will. I'm not sure if you noticed how some of the guys have been looking at her, especially with those pants she has on."

Meghan slammed her fist on the table. "Eliza, shut up!" She took a breath, "For God's sake its only her second day…and I let her get hurt."

Eliza, slightly startled by the outburst, looked at the blonde confused. "What do you mean you let her get hurt?"

"I've never been that reckless, training or not, I've always been carful and precise, taking no unnecessary risk. I should have never just run out in the open like that. I don't know what got into me, and now she's hurt because I made a mistake."

"Meghan, this isn't your fault. It isn't anyone's fault, accidents happen. Someone was going to get shot with those defective rounds eventually."

"Yeah, and that person should have been me, I was the one acting foolish."

Eliza walked up to her friend and grabbed her by the shoulders, Meghan looked like she was trying not to cry. "Don't blame yourself."

"If this had been real, she would be dead."

"But she's not."

"I should have been better than that, I know better than that."

"You were off your game, it happens to all of us."

"Not to me."

"Stop." Eliza couldn't take seeing Meghan beat herself up. "Listen to me, this isn't your fault."

Meghan was seen by many as one of the best leaders Rainbow had, people put a lot of trust and faith in her, and with that came a lot of pressure. She wasn't supposed to mess up, she wasn't supposed to make mistakes, she wasn't supposed to lose anyone. Occasionally that pressure was too much to take.

"You're only human, you can't be a perfect leader all the time, but we all still respect you and love you the same."

Meghan wrapped her arms around the redhead, she realized that she was trembling. Eliza returned the embrace, despite how much of a hard time the woman gave her, Eliza was Meghan's best friend, and the only person she could trust with such a personal moment like this. "Thank you."

"Don't mention it."

"Maybe Monika is on to something."

"I told you, favorite FBI agent." Eliza said, with pride. "It's been a long day, we should get some rest. I think they want us to try again tomorrow."

"I will in a bit," Meghan responded, "first, I need to take some things to Ela."

"Okay, don't stay up too late." Eliza said as she left.

Meghan yawned, it had been a stressful day. She gathered a few things that she would take to Ela, as she was about to leave she noticed something out of the corner of her eye. They had left Ela's jacket behind, she figured now would be a good time to return it to her. As she picked it up, something fell out of one of the pockets. She picked that up as well and examined it, it was an old piece of cloth, clearly from a piece of clothing. She flipped it over and was taken aback by what she saw, the name Bosak stitched into the fabric. The piece was too old to be Ela's, so Meghan figured it must have belonged to a relative of hers. Maybe she would ask when she brought it back to Ela's room.

She made her way to the newest operator's room, she had with her some food, an extra ice pack, actual pain medication, and Ela's jacket. She knocked on the door and got no response, she knocked again, no response. She checked the handle and found the door unlocked, she knew she shouldn't, but she peeked in. She heard the shower going, so at least she was still here. Meghan walked in and began to set everything she brought on the counter and put the ice pack in the freezer. The shower stopped running and after a few moments, she heard the door open.

"Hey Ela, I-" She turned around and was immediately lost for words. In front of her was Ela, completely naked. Her hair was still wet, her skin was pale except for the bruising on her side, her body damp and barren of any body hair. Her muscles were not as toned as her own but still pronounced, and she noticed that those pants she wore, in fact, left a lot to the imagination. Meghan finally processed that she was staring and immediately turned around as Ela dashed back into the bathroom.

"I'm so sorry!" Meghan said.

"I didn't hear you come in." Ela responded, she stepped back out wrapped in a towel, she stepped into the closet.

"I shouldn't have just walked in, I'm so sorry." Meghan apologized again.

After a few moments, Ela stepped back out, now fully dressed, along with a blush on her face once again. She gave Meghan a serious look. "Eliza will never find out about this."

"Absolutely." In her mind, Meghan could already hear the redhead laughing hysterically.

"Why are you here?"

"I came to drop off some things," She gestured to the various items on the counter. "and you left your jacket in my room."

Ela noticed the gifts Meghan brought. "Thanks, I guess."

The awkwardness was growing, as usual, so Meghan decided to change the subject. "What's this from?" She asked as she held up the piece of cloth.

Ela's eyes went wide, and she immediately snatched the cloth out of Meghan's hand.

"It…belonged to someone important to me."

"Who?"

Ela said nothing

"Ela, you know you can trust me right, you can tell me anything."

"No…I don't know that."

"Ela."

"Please...just stop."

Meghan put a hand on her shoulder. "Okay."

"Thank you."

As much as she wanted to open up, she just couldn't, it simply wasn't in her nature. She clutched the piece of fabric close and looked away from the blonde in shame. Since reuniting, Meghan had shown her nothing but kindness and care, she even considered her a friend, and yet she continued to push her away like a coward.

" _Look at you."_ Her father's voice had returned

" _Your second day, and you're already broken."_ She closed her eyes.

" _Relying on someone else to help you, as always."_ She shook her head.

" _What will it take for you to get stronger?"_

" _What will it take for you to get it right?"_

"Ela?" She snapped out of her reverie and looked at Meghan. "What's going on?"

"Nothing."

"You're crying again."

Ela realized her face was wet with tears, yet again. Still, she said nothing, there was nothing she could say.

"Here." Meghan handed her a tissue, which she accepted and used it to clean her face. Meghan grabbed Ela by the hand, neither one said a word, Meghan simply made sure that Ela understood that she was there if she needed her, which the girl silently appreciated.

After ten minutes, Ela had seemed to recover and by now the pain from the injury had returned and she started clutching her side. Meghan noticed and grabbed the medication.

"Take this." She handed her two pills, which Ela swallowed. "I brought you some food as well if you're hungry and there's another ice pack in the freezer."

"Thank you."

"Don't mention it." Meghan got up to leave. "Get some rest, I'll be busy for most of tomorrow, but I'll be sure to check up on you. Again, I'm sorry about letting myself in."

Ela nodded and said goodbye to her friend.

"And Ela, call me if you need anything, okay?" With that, Meghan left.

She was left alone to her own thoughts and tried to process what happened. Her old ally from ten years ago had, in less than forty-eight hours, introduced her to her new home, cared for her after getting hurt, seen her naked, and consoled her from pain she didn't even understand. Meghan was a good person, one that was way beyond what Ela deserved to have in her life. Ela wanted to find a way to show her appreciation, but with her being a recluse, it wouldn't be easy, she wasn't even used to having a friend who cared for her. She decided to go to lay down, maybe she would figure something out after a night's sleep.

* * *

Author's note: I really enjoyed writing this one (not that I don't enjoy writing all of them). So I know some of the combat didn't quite match i.e. that grzmot toss, but I did it because it sounded epic. Also, in this story, operator vs operator, aka pvp, is training only and the white masks aka terrorist hunt is real combat. As always, I hope you enjoyed the chapter and feel free to leave a review. Until next time.


	5. Chapter 4

Author's note: So I tried to upload this yesterday, but fanfiction's doc manager was down, so apologies for the delay. The good news is since it was down, I used the time to get the next chapter started and have already made considerable progress. As always, hope you enjoy.

* * *

What Will It Take?

Chapter 4

* * *

Over the next few days, Ela and Meghan didn't say much to each other, although it was mostly on Ela's part. Meghan couldn't help but notice the girl was more closed off than usual, which was saying something. She finally found an opportunity to talk to her, about her injury. Currently, they were in Ela's room, Ela had her shirt up as Meghan was examining. She noticed the bruising had gone down considerably and Ela could move around without wincing.

"How does this feel? Any Pain?" She asked as she applied pressure to one of Ela's ribs.

"No, it feels fine." Ela responded.

"How about here?" She poked at another spot.

"Nothing."

"Good." Meghan noticed there was only one spot left to check, under the girl's bra strap…

"Um, how about here?" She asked as she gently slid her hand beneath the undergarment, both of their faces turning red.

"N-no, it feels fine."

"That's…good."

The two stared at each other, faces burning red, Meghan either not noticing or not caring that her hand wasn't moving away.

"So…I think you're officially healed now."

"That's good news…"

"Hey Meghan, Ela, would you like to…oh my god!" Monika had walked in and was shocked at the sight in front of her.

"Doesn't anyone in this place knock?" Meghan asked to no one in particular. Ela pulled her shirt back down, she was surprised that she hadn't passed out from all the blood flowing to her cheeks instead of her brain. "What do you need Monika?"

"I was going to ask if you two wanted to join Eliza and myself tonight, but I can see that you have other plans." The German said, half-jokingly.

"Monika it's not what you think, I was giving her a medical exam."

"Under her bra?"

"Well…yes."

"Meghan, I'm just joking with you, you can both relax."

Both Meghan and Ela breathed a sigh of relief. "I think you've been spending too much time with Eliza."

Monika giggled. "Well that tends to happen when you're dating someone, something you should look into."

"Now I know that you've been spending to much time with her."

The German laughed again. "Seriously though, we're going out tonight, would you two like to join us?"

Meghan had completely forgot that today was Friday and they were free for the weekend. Normally, she would have agreed to go out with the couple, but she still had to find a way to get through to Ela, and she doubted the green haired girl would want to hang out in a group.

"Thanks, but I think we're going to do our own thing tonight." Meghan answered, Ela looked at the blonde, slightly confused.

"Okay. If you change you minds, just let me know." Monika turned to leave.

"Thanks. And Monika." The German turned around. "If you mention a word of this to Eliza, I'll have to kill you both."

Monika said nothing, she simply offered a smile and a wink before leaving the room.

"So, what exactly are we doing tonight?" Ela finally asked.

"I don't know, I just don't think we could hang out with them without it being awkward, especially after what she just saw."

Ela figured she was probably right.

"So, it's your first weekend in England, what would you like to do?"

"I'm not one for going out, I prefer to keep to myself in my free time."

"But you've been stuck in this building all week, you don't want to at least get out? When's the next time you'll be able to see a place like this?"

"I didn't join to see places Meghan, and I didn't join to make friends."

Meghan sighed, Ela was closing herself off again, and she had to find a way to make it stop. "Even if you didn't join for those things, why not take advantage of the opportunity?"

Ela only shrugged. Meghan was about to keep pressing the topic, but then she looked at her watch and realized what time it was, "Crap, I have to go." Meghan got up and was about to leave when she tuned back, an idea in her head. "I'll tell you what, I'm going out to a little place tonight. If you would like to join me, meet me in the lounge in a couple hours. The choice is up to you."

Ela was curious but simply nodded in agreement. With that, Meghan left the room.

Meghan went down stairs to the lounge and noticed it was empty, which was perfect. She took a seat at one of the tables, her phone in hand. She was apprehensive to make this call, but it was necessary, and a long time coming. She wasn't sure how long she sat there, the number typed in, her finger hovering over the call button.

Finally, she pushed it, after a few rings a voice answered on the other end. "Hello?"

"Hi mom."

* * *

Ela lay on her bed, Meghan's offer still ringing in her head. Normally, she wouldn't even consider such a thing. She hated going out, she hated being in public, she hated being around people really. She had always preferred to keep to herself, but the decision she made earlier about thanking her friend kept poking at her. She still hadn't thought of a way to show her appreciation for all the help she had given her, and taking her up on the offer might provide an opportunity to do so. At the same time, not knowing exactly what the blonde had planned raised some red flags. She didn't think Meghan would hurt her or anything of that nature, it was just a natural reaction for her. Unknown factors meant danger, years of being on the battlefield had integrated that mindset into her head.

Ela let out a frustrated sigh, deep down she knew she had to break out of this bubble she kept herself in. After going back and forth for what seemed like an eternity and getting nowhere, she decided to take a different approach. Perhaps instead of looking at this from a tactical perspective, maybe she should think about this from a regular perspective. What would a normal person do in this situation?

" _Since when do you know anything about normal?"_ The voices were back, this time she couldn't even tell who's it was. _"You said it yourself, you're far from it, chaos is your world, you do a good job of making sure no one can escape it. But I wonder, can you even escape it?"_

She shook her head, trying to rid herself of the torment.

" _Let's face it, there's no hope for you, you didn't belong as a PMC, you didn't belong in GROM, and you sure as hell don't belong here."_

"Stop."

" _Everything you try, you are destined for failure, if you track record is anything to go by."_

"Please."

" _I will admit, I'm kind of surprised, she see's something in you."_

"Leave me alone."

" _I wonder, what will it take for her to realize that she's wasting her time?"_

"Shut up."

" _What will it take for her to notice that you're going to let her down, just like you do everyone else?"_

"Who are you?"

" _What, you don't recognize me Bosak? Come on, it hasn't been that long, only ten years."_

"…Nelson."

" _There you go."_

"What do you want?"

" _What? I can't say hi to an old friend? Oh wait, you don't have any friends."_

"Why are you here?"

" _I was going to ask you the same thing. Look at where you are, this isn't you."_

"It was a better path for me."

" _Was it? Or are you just running like a coward?"_

"I'm not a coward."

" _Remember Bosak, I'm in your head, I already know the real reason why you left GROM."_

"Well then, get out of my head!"

" _Ha, and there it is. You push everything and everyone away. That's why you're scared to simply be alone with her."_

"Please just go away."

" _Is that what you're going to say to her, when she gets too close?"_

"…"

" _You can keep pushing all of us away Bosak, but you're going to have to face all of us eventually. Are you going to start with her, while she's still alive? Or are you going to wait until you fuck up and run again?"_

* * *

"So, she actually blew up your door?"

"Yes, and I'm not the only one."

"She sounds like a fun person to be around." Meghan's mother laughed.

The two had been talking for a while now, the conversation had been slow and awkward at first, but eventually they were able to get the ball rolling. Right now, Meghan was talking about what life was like at Hereford, and the people she worked with. She made sure not to give away anything secret, only first names were allowed to be said, and absolutely no talk about operations.

"Yeah, Eliza is quite the character. She can be a headache at times, but I love her to death, I couldn't ask for a better friend."

"Well, I'm happy to hear that you enjoy the company of your coworkers."

"I trust them with my life." Her mother got quiet. "Mom?"

"Sorry, it's just…I worry about you, you know."

"I know."

"I remember how devastated you were when you found out you couldn't compete in the Olympics. I wasn't sure what you were going to do, and then you came home one day saying that you wanted to be a Navy SEAL. At first, I thought you were being overly ambitious, or maybe you were just trying to prove yourself after you were told you couldn't compete. I never thought you would spend the next thirteen years fighting wars."

"I want to serve my country and do some good. You know that."

"I know, I know and I'm so unbelievably proud of you Meghan, I couldn't even describe how proud I was to see you get your trident. It's just hard, not knowing when I'm going to see you or hear from you again…or if I'll get the call."

"I understand. But it's part of the life I chose."

"I know, but are you happy?"

"What are you talking about?"

"I mean are you truly happy with where you are in life?"

"Of course, I don't regret anything."

"Not regretting and being happy are two different things."

"I…"

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have brought it up."

"It's alright."

"Now I'm just thankful to hear that you friend's like Eliza looking out for you."

"Yeah, she and her girlfriend are pretty remarkable."

"Girlfriend?"

"Oh right, she's dating another operative here in Rainbow, they've been together for about two years now."

"Good for them…so, what about you?"

"Mom…" Meghan rolled her eyes.

"You're thirty-one, I just thought maybe by now you might have found somebody."

"Well, I'm not exactly focused on that at the moment."

"Fair enough, but you're not getting any younger."

"Mom!"

"Your body won't be in its prime forever, and it won't be easy once all you have is your dense personality."

"MOM!"

"I'm just saying, if you want to settle down one day, you can't wait forever."

"You and Eliza would get along great, and that terrifies me."

"I would certainly like to meet her one day, if possible."

"Definitely." Meghan again looked at her watch and noted the time. "Hey, I've got to go, I have plans tonight."

"Of course. It was nice of you to call."

"It was good to hear from you too."

"Don't be afraid to call more often either."

"Of course."

"I love you sweetie, take care."

"I love you too mom, talk to you soon."

With that, the call was ended. Meghan wasn't sure how that conversation was going to turn out, but now she regretted waiting so long to make the call. It had been the first time she had talked to her mother since she had left to join Rainbow over a year ago. When she had first decided to become a Navy SEAL, her mother was apprehensive. Yes, she was incredibly proud of her daughter, but no parent enjoys worrying about getting a call that their child was killed. There was a lot about the past thirteen years that she kept hidden from her mother, because she knew it would destroy her to know the things she had seen and done.

Overall, she was happy she made the call, but the part about her being happy confused her. The answer should have been easy, yes, she was happy where she was, but when she was asked, she couldn't say it. Was she not happy where she was? No, there was no way, true there were many downsides to her lifestyle, but that comes with any path she could have chosen. But maybe it wasn't so much as she wasn't happy, as much as something felt like it was missing.

"Hey Meg." Meghan hadn't noticed Eliza and Monika enter the room.

"Hey. You two heading out?"

"Yeah, we're going to a restaurant we've wanted to try across town."

"You're still welcome to join us." Monika offered.

"Thanks, but I've got my own plans tonight." Meghan responded.

"Suit yourself." The two turned to leave.

"Siu isn't going?"

"No, James took both her and Liu to some theme park he always likes to go to."

"Sounds like a fun time."

"Well, he is a thrill seeker, anyways, we should get going."

"You two behave yourselves." She called as they walked away. Eliza merely turned around and winked, she then wrapped an arm around Monika's waist. They definitely were not going to behave themselves.

Meghan checked her watch one more time, it was bout that time that she gave Ela to meet her here. There was no sign of the Polish girl, Meghan honestly knew she shouldn't be surprised. She sighed, put her phone in her pocket and began to walk out of the building.

"Meghan."

The SEAL turned around, and saw the woman currently occupying her thoughts. "Ela, hey!" She was filled with happiness now that her friend hadn't stood her up. "You ready?"

The girl nodded, "Where exactly are we going."

"A small place not far from here."

Ela was still clearly apprehensive but followed Meghan out of the barracks.

"I'm really glad you decided to join me."

As usual she simply nodded in response.

"We're not doing anything crazy Ela, you don't have to worry.

"I'm not worried." It was a lie, she didn't know what to make of the situation, and it terrified her, but there was no way in hell she would let Meghan see that.

"Okay, good. It's not far so we're just going to walk there."

Soon both women left the gates of Hereford base and were on their way to whatever activity Meghan had planned for them. Ela was just hoping that she wouldn't regret this.

* * *

Author's note: So this chapter got kind of too real for me, part of that phone call was based an actual phone call I had with my mom a couple years ago. Anyways, we will finally see a lot more bonding between Meg and Ela in the next chapter. As always, hope you enjoyed and feel free to leave a review. Until next time.


	6. Chapter 5

Author's note: Well, here's the longest chapter yet, I hope it lives up to expectations. Enjoy.

* * *

What Will It Take?

Chapter 5

* * *

The two were walking down the streets of England, which were bustling due to it being a Friday night. Ela watched as people walked by and found herself wondering how the average person would be spending their time during the weekend. She briefly recalled the period in her life when she tried to be normal, even then she would always keep to herself. She guessed she really didn't know anything about being normal, Nelson's words still sounding in her head.

They had only walked a few blocks away from base when Meghan stopped in her tracks. "Here it is."

In front of them was what looked to be a small, family owned coffee shop. Ela looked up at the sign that read 'Oxton's Coffee and Tea'. Looking at the place from the outside, one would think it was a normal house if it weren't for the sign. As they stepped inside, Ela noticed it was a quaint place, dark wooden flooring and walls which were decorated with various pictures and artwork. A few wooden tables and a fireplace near the back reinforced the family home feel. They approached the counter, there were small pastries and dishes on display. Above were menus listing the different types of coffee and tea they had for sale.

"Hey Meghan." Greeted the girl behind the counter, she looked to be about seventeen.

"Good evening Lena, how are you?" Meghan asked, she had clearly been here a number of times if she and the girl knew each other by name.

"I'm great, thanks, how 'bout you."

"Can't complain. How's Amelie?"

"Oh, she's the same as always."

"That's too bad."

"Haha, she's not that bad, she really sweet once you get to know her."

"I'll just take your word for it."

"Anyways, will it be the usual?"

"As always."

"Brilliant, and for you luv?" The girl looked at Ela, who was too busy observing that she hadn't even looked at the menu. She wasn't sure what they even had so she just stared awkwardly.

"I think she'll just have the same thing." Meghan suggested.

"Alright, that'll be four pounds please."

Meghan pulled out a five-pound note and gave it to Lena, "Keep the change."

"Thanks, luv." Lena dashed back into the kitchen seemingly in the blink of an eye.

The two operators waited while Lena made their drinks, "Her parents own the place, she works here on weekends when she's not at school." Meghan said.

"You two seem awfully close." Ela commented.

"She's like a little sister to me."

Ela took a pause upon hearing the word sister. Just then, Lena popped back up and handed Meghan their drinks. "Here you go, and it looks like your favorite tables opened up as well."

"Excellent, thank you Lena."

"Cheers luv."

Meghan handed Ela her drink and lead the Polish girl to a table right next to the fireplace, which made the room glow just brightly enough. It also offered a nice amount of warmth throughout the shop. They sat down across from one another, at first Ela didn't know what to say, so she just took a sip from the drink Meghan bought for her. It was a coffee mixed with a small amount of what tasted like caramel, making the drink rather sweet.

Finally, Meghan spoke up. "I found this little shop not long after joining Rainbow," she explained, "it's kind of a special place to me."

"What makes it so special?" Ela asked, curious.

"It's quiet, it's warm, and it's peaceful. Everything our lifestyle is not. Sometimes when I feel like the pressure is too much, or I'm lost, I'll come here and separate myself from everything, if not just for a moment. It helps me decompress, so to speak."

Lost and over-pressured, now those were two things that Ela didn't think were possible when it came to Meghan Castellano, but she knew everyone had their limits. She was also surprised that Meghan was willing to share this personal getaway spot with her.

"So, why have you brought me here?"

"Because I feel like maybe it could help you as well. Now we're away from Hereford, operators, training, it's just you and me."

Now Ela was concerned. "What makes you think I need to 'decompress'?" Feeling stupid just from asking the question.

"Ela, I've seen you throughout the past week, I know you've been having a difficult time, and not just from getting shot."

Ela was now falling back into her old habits, not letting anyone in and trying to keep to herself. "You don't know anything about what I'm going through."

"Then tell me."

"Why do you even want to know?"

"Well, we fought together in Iraq, again in Afghanistan, and now in Rainbow. I even consider you a friend and yet, I feel like I know almost nothing about you."

"Maybe that's for the best."

"Ela, don't say that. You don't have to hide from everyone, you can trust me."

"How do I know that?"

Meghan knew she was on the verge of losing this battle, she had to think of something to bring her back. Not just for her sake, but for the team's sake. "How about this, I'll tell you something about me that no one else here knows, and you tell me something about yourself. We'll take turns."

Ela thought hard about the offer, she didn't want to admit she was afraid, but she knew that Meghan was trying to help her, and deep down, she knew she needed it. "Alright."

"Okay, I'll go first." Meghan thought a moment. "I was originally going to compete on the Olympic swim team, but I broke my arm in a car accident."

"Everyone knows that about you." Ela interrupted.

"Yes, but do you know what caused the accident?"

Now Ela was intrigued. "What?"

"I opened the glove box and saw a spider. I freaked out and lost control."

"…It must have been a large spider to cause a car accident."

"Well…It was about this big." Meghan held up her fingers indicating that the spider was about the size of a finger nail.

"So, the unstoppable Meghan Castellano was defeated by a spider less than half an inch long?"

Meghan's face turned red with embarrassment as she nodded. "Okay, your turn."

Ela was still apprehensive, but she knew she had to be fair. She thought for a moment, "What do you want to know?"

"Anything, I mean, I know a lot about your military career, but I want to know what makes Elzbieta Bosak tick."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, I want to know more about your life outside of the stone-cold killer you are on the battlefield."

"Well, I studied art in Berlin for two years before becoming a Private Military Contractor in 2003."

"Berlin sounds exciting."

"Not as exciting as this, which is why I gave it up after two years."

"I suppose."

"Your turn."

"What do you want to know?"

Ela thought for a moment. "Where did you grow up?"

"I split my time between Oceanside, California and the army base my dad was stationed at. I would spend a lot of time at the beach, which is how I realized I wanted to compete in the Olympics as a swimmer. And after I broke my arm, growing up on a military base is what helped me realize I wanted to serve. It was also around the time that the Department of Defense decided they would start letting women try out for the Navy SEALs. So, I figured if I wasn't good enough to swim for the Olympic team, I would try out for the special forces team associated with water."

"And yet, you ended up in the deserts of the Middle East, twice." Ela joked.

"Ironic, I know." Meghan laughed, she was happy to see her friend getting more relaxed.

"Interesting. Now I guess it's my turn again, ask me something."

Meghan asked a question she wanted to ask for a long time. "Why do you dye your hair that color?"

Ela hesitated, "It's my favorite color."

"That's it? That's the only reason?"

"Yes. Your turn now."

"Hmm." Meghan thought hard, wondering if this was a secret worth sharing. "I'm bisexual."

Ela didn't know what to make of the revelation. "Nobody knows that?" She asked, recalling the jokes from Monika and Eliza.

"Some people have their suspicions, and some have even made jokes, but none of them know for a fact, not even Eliza."

Ela started to feel awkward, she wasn't expecting the conversation to go in this direction. She wasn't even sure what her own sexual preferences were. "I'm not sure what to say."

"Hmm. What was your family like?"

Now this was a realm that Ela wanted to avoid at all cost. "You really don't want to know."

"Ela, you can trust me." Meghan was making progress, she couldn't lose it now.

"It's not that you don't trust you, it's just…"

"Come on."

"I don't know."

"What will it take for you to open up?"

Ela completely froze.

"Ela?"

"I'm sorry, I just can't." She suddenly got up and walked away.

"Ela, wait! Was it something I said? Ela!" The girl didn't respond as she left the shop. Meghan wanted to chase after her and find out what was wrong, but she knew it wouldn't work. All she could do was stand and watch the girl leave. She sat back down, defeated, trying to process what just happened.

"Ouch, that was rough." Came a familiar voice.

Meghan turned around, "Yumi?"

Seated at another table was her friend and fellow operator, Yumiko Imagawa, who until now she thought was in Spain. She stood up and hugged her friend. "When did you get back?"

"We all got back just a few hours ago."

"Well, welcome back, how was it?"

"Definitely one of the more interesting operations."

"Ryad and Elena did alright I hope?"

"Yes, for their first mission they did very well"

"We all saw the video by the way, it looked like it went extremely well."

"Ha, yeah, the owners of that night club wanted to show their thanks, so they gave us free access for a few days."

"That sounds way better than that favela we liberated."

"That place should just be removed from the world."

"Agreed, so where's Masaru?"

"He was tired from the trip, so he's back at Hereford getting some rest."

"I should probably warn you that his ex-girlfriend is here now."

Yumi's face turned serious. "What? Who?"

"Siu Mei Lin."

"Is she back at the barracks?"

"No, James took them out somewhere."

"I have to go." She got up to leave.

"Yumi," Meghan grabbed her by the wrist. "you don't have to worry, Masaru would never do anything to hurt you."

"I know but-"

"Relax, you're just overthinking."

Yumi thought hard for a second, "You're right." Yumi always got easily jealous and paranoid when it came to her relationship, but everyone knew that Masaru was head over heels for the girl.

"Besides, Siu herself said there's nothing going on between them."

"Alright." Yumi turned back to face the SEAL. "Thanks."

"No problem."

"Anyways, sorry your date didn't go so well, she was cute."

Meghan was taken aback by what Yumi said. "What?! Oh! She wasn't my date, she's a new operator."

"Oh." Yumi sounded a little disappointed.

"Wait! You two weren't on a date?!" Lena seemed to teleport out of nowhere.

"No." Meghan clarified. "Why is everyone obsessed with my dating life?"

"Because you don't have a dating life, luv." Lena answered bluntly. "Which is weird considering you helped me get with my girlfriend."

"Well one, whether or not I date anyone is nobody's business, and two, I had to help because you were totally lost."

"Well look who's talking, you had a beautiful woman sitting right here with you and you let her go."

"Can we just drop it, we were not on a date."

Yumi was on the side trying not to laugh. "Okay, it's getting late, we should head back."

Meghan agreed, the two said goodbye to Lena and made their way back to Hereford.

* * *

Meghan and Yumi came back to find the barracks in a state of celebration. All twenty operators that were deployed to Spain had safely returned. Some, like Masaru, had gone to their rooms to catch up on some much-deserved rest. Others, had decided to celebrate in the lounge, which, as usual, involved a lot of alcohol. Meghan and Yumi noticed Eliza and Monika had returned from their date, and several other operators were gathered around them. It appeared that Eliza was in a drinking competition with none other than Maxim Basuda, the Spetsnaz trapper, and avid drinker. Monika had a combined look of worry and disappointment on her face.

"Hey Monika." Yumiko greeted.

"Yumi!" Monika gave her friend a hug. "Welcome back."

"What's going on here?" Meghan asked.

"Oh, miss red head thinks she can beat Maxim in a drinking contest."

"Has she met Maxim before?" Yumi asked, sarcastically.

"You know how she is, she can't admit defeat."

"And, you're okay with this?"

Monika shrugged. "If she passes out, it saves me the trouble of fending off her attempts at 'after date' sex."

"Fair enough."

"Meghan, what happened to Ela? She came back and went straight to her room, she looked upset."

Meghan's heart hurt at the thought. "I think she needs some space."

"So, your date didn't go well?"

"It wasn't a date!"

"I'm just kidding."

"Anyways, I'll leave her be tonight, and see how she is tomorrow."

"ELIZA!" Monika had to catch her girlfriend from falling out of her seat. It appeared the competition was over. "Well, it looks like I need to get this one to bed. Yumi, Maxim, welcome back, I'll see you all tomorrow." She then, proceeded to drag Eliza back to her room.

"Hi Maxim, welcome back," Meghan greeted the Russian, who somehow appeared to be completely sober. ", where are the rest of the Spetsnaz?"

"Shuhrat is asleep, Alexsandr and Timur are back there."

Meghan looked towards the back of the lounge and saw Timur drinking by himself. "Thanks." She said as she walked over to the Russian.

"Timur, welcome back." She greeted. Timur was the only Spetsnaz that Meghan was close with, like her, he was seen as the leader of the Russian operators and constantly had to deal with their antics.

"Ah, Castellano." The sniper greeted with his thick Russian accent, he seemed to have a small buzz but was still coherent, all the Russian operators had a high tolerance when it came to alcohol, although Maxim was in a world all his own.

"So, how was it?" Meghan asked.

"A successful one like always, however, having access to a high-class night club as a reward was…different, but definitely not unwelcome."

"I can imagine."

"Yes, much better than that yacht, all we got from liberating that thing up in the arctic was frostbite, I'm happy HQ decided to sink it, so we'll never have to see that place again."

"I'm glad I wasn't there." Meghan laughed, "So, the rest of the Spetsnaz do alright?"

Timur set his drink down and gave a frustrated look. "Oh, those assholes. First, I have to deal with that idiot Shuhrat. We were trying to extract the hostage, so we send in a drone, we find the hostage sitting next to one of the windows."

"Oh no." Meghan already knew where this was going.

"So, the genius decides to plant his cluster charge right on the window, perfect spot for all five explosives to land in the hostage's lap. Luckily, I managed to shoot the cluster charge and disable it before he set it off, the idiot still doesn't see what he did wrong. I swear, how one could be so smart and yet so stupid I don't understand."

Meghan felt for the guy, dealing with Eliza alone was a burden, but Timur had to deal with three of the oddest characters Rainbow had to offer.

"Then there's Maxim, in the middle of the fire fight, and 'The Trapper' decides that his EDDs are good enough, that's all he needs. Ironically, we ended up taking defensive positions inside one of the bars, and this asshole decides to open up a bottle of vodka and start drinking. We're in the middle of a hostage situation, and he decides to get drunk! Most people need to be taught not to drink and drive, this fucker needs to be taught not to drink and fight terrorists."

"He could have jeopardized the whole mission!" Meghan was astonished. "You should teach him a lesson, that's unacceptable!"

"I can't."

"Why not?!"

Timur gave a disgruntled look. "He was right…his traps killed everyone."

"You're kidding…"

He shook his head, "He knew exactly where they would try to enter, we ended up never firing a shot."

Meghan couldn't believe it, she didn't know what to say.

Timur took another swig from his drink. "And then there's THAT ONE." He pointed to the other side of the room.

Meghan looked over and saw none other than Alexsandr. She noticed that he was still wearing his signature full-face helmet. He was also perched upon a chair that wasn't at a table, it was on the table, like a throne. She also noticed that the USSR national anthem was playing in the background. Absolutely no one else in the room thought any of this was odd.

"Do I even need to say anything?"

"No."

"Sometimes I wonder if I'm the crazy one." Timur sighed as he took another drink. "So, enough about me, how have you been? I heard you went on a date with cute polish girl."

"It wasn't a date!" Meghan shouted, "Wait, how do you even know about that?!"

"Yumiko sent a picture to the whole team."

"YUMI!"

"I didn't know it wasn't a date until after I sent it!" The Japanese woman explained.

"Wait, so she's single?" Jack asked.

"Jack, don't even think about it!"

"Yeah bro, I got first dibs anyway." Jordan chimed in.

"Nobody has dibs on her Jordan!"

By now the whole room was paying attention to the SEAL, some because they found it entertaining, others just wanted to get more information on one of their newest allies.

"You know for someone who didn't just go on a date with her, you are being oddly territorial." Julien commented.

"She's not interested in dating anyone right now!"

"Oh, and exactly how would you know, did she reject you?" Emma teased.

"She didn't reject me."

"So, you admit you asked her out?" Elias asked.

"I didn't say that."

"So, why are you so against any of us making a move on her?" Ryad questioned.

Meghan slammed both her fists on the table. "Nobody goes near her!"

Everyone went silent, none of them had ever seen Meghan lose her temper. Even Timur had a look of surprise and confusion on his face. Meghan was even surprised at herself. Embarrassed and confused, she quickly got up and left the room, not able to look at anyone.

"Tachanka approves of the new couple." Alexsandr spoke.

* * *

It was 2:00am and Meghan couldn't sleep, the days events replaying in her head. Her mind kept going back to her 'not date' with Ela. Everything had been going well, the girl was comfortable and was beginning to show signs of breaking out of her shell, then it all came to a screeching halt. One of the worst parts was, she had no idea what she had done to upset the girl.

Then there was the party in the lounge. Even she was surprised that she had lashed out at everyone the way she did, she never lost her temper, even with Eliza. She just couldn't take everyone talking about her friend in such a way, Ela was going through a lot, she didn't need a bunch of guys hitting on her, the thought alone made her blood boil.

Meghan let out a frustrated sigh, she already had a list of problems, she didn't need to add lack of sleep to it as well. As much as she tried to clear her head, it was no use, she was going to need some help. She hated resorting to this, but she felt like she was out of options. She got up, walked over to the kitchen cabinet and opened it only to find a note.

 _Dear Meg,_

 _Had to borrow this for 'special occasion'. I'll repay you later, I promise._

 _Eliza_

Meghan crumpled the note in frustration, why was she friends with her again? Then she had a thought, maybe there was some left-over alcohol in the lounge. Again, she hated to resort to drinking, but she was desperate for sleep, and maybe a few drinks could help her pass out, it seemed to work for the Spetsnaz. She got out of bed and got dressed, she then left her room and proceeded down the hallway. As she passed by Ela's room, she stopped, contemplating knocking on the door and seeing if she was alright. But she figured the girl was probably asleep and decided to wait until morning.

She made her way downstairs, the place was a mess, but at least it wasn't destroyed, previous parties had resulted in much worse. She immediately noticed Maxim passed out on a table, at least she hoped he was passed out. She walked over to him and poked him in the shoulder, he let out a small groan, but didn't wake up.

"He's alive." A voice from behind made her jump.

She turned around and saw Ela, sitting at the counter facing away from her. Meghan could see a cup and a bottle in her possession. Meghan just stared for a moment, not sure what to say, she then decided to grab her own cup and took a seat next to her. Ela handed her the bottle and she poured a drink for herself.

For a while, neither said a word, and neither even looked at the other. After a few drinks Ela spoke. "You couldn't sleep either?"

"No." Meghan took another drink and took a moment to figure out what to say. "Ela, I'm sorry."

Ela paused. "For what?"

"I didn't mean to upset you, I shouldn't have pressured you into talking about something so personal."

"No. I'm sorry." Meghan looked at the girl. "I shouldn't have just left, I ran away like a coward."

"You don't have to apologize to me."

"Yes, I do. Meghan, you've shown me nothing but kindness and care ever since I arrived, and I just ran from you for doing nothing more than wanting to be my friend." Meghan could see the girl trembling, Ela took a deep breath. "I left when you asked about my family, do you still want to know?"

Meghan grabbed to girl's hand. "Only if you're okay with telling me."

Ela paused for a moment. "That piece of cloth you asked about earlier," Meghan remembered how Ela had reacted when asked about it. ", it belonged to my grandfather. He was my inspiration, the reason I wanted to become a soldier in the first place. He was born and raised in Poland and served as a paratrooper, he was proud to fight for his country. Even after the Nazi's invaded and Poland had fallen, he continued to fight. He was eventually captured and imprisoned, but he somehow managed to escape and continued to fight back and resist the Nazis until the wars end. I wanted to be just like him, but he died when I was young, he never even got to see me grow up. So, I carry a piece of his uniform with me everywhere I go."

"I think he would be proud of you." Meghan commented.

Ela didn't respond, she just kept going with the story. "My father on the other hand, he was the commander of GROM."

Meghan had to process what she had just heard. "You mean he was in command of the whole organization?"

"Commander Jan Bosak." Ela nodded. "My sister and I both enrolled in the military academy as soon as we were old enough, and we knew from day one that we had incredible shoes to fill. He pushed us harder than any of the other students, he didn't want us to embarrass him, he wanted us to embody him, as the commander of Poland's most elite special forces unit, he would accept nothing less than perfection. My sister was able to handle that pressure, and she was a model student. I wasn't. I was unable to live up to his image, and everyone could see it. No matter how hard I tried, no matter how hard I pushed, I just wasn't good enough. He loved my sister more."

"What makes you say that?"

"…he told me."

Meghan saw tears flowing down Ela's face, she wrapped her arm around her.

"I dropped out of the academy and started an arts degree in Berlin, it's where I got the idea to dye my hair, I also did it because I knew my father would hate it if he ever saw. It was nice for a while, but deep down, I still wanted to fight, I still wanted to be like my grandfather, so I became a PMC instead and spent the next four years fighting in Iraq. One day I got a letter from home, the first correspondence since I dropped out of the academy. My father had killed himself. The worst part, I didn't know whether to cry, or to celebrate. The next day, I was so out of it, I botched my teams mission. Out of twelve of us, two were killed in action, another six were wounded, three of them later died from their wounds as well. That battle still haunts me to this day."

Ela paused to pour another drink.

"After that, I decided that I would try again to get accepted into GROM, partly to prove myself, and partly as an insult, waiting until after he was dead to join HIS precious organization. This time, I passed the selection process with flying colors."

By now Ela could feel the alcohol taking effect. She let her head fall on Meghan's shoulder. Meghan didn't seem to mind.

"And it doesn't even stop there. After I made it into GROM, my sister Zofia tried to get in to contact with me, it turns out she had gotten married and had a child, she wanted to reconcile after our rough childhood. I wasn't ready to face her, in fact I don't think I ever will be able to make amends. I was so desperate to avoid her that when the offer came to join Rainbow, I took it just to get away from her. I don't even know her child's name." Ela shut her eyes. "That is why I'm here, not to be a hero, not to help the innocent…because I'm a foolish girl running from her problems." She expected Meghan to chastise her, to be disappointed, after all, she did this in order to help others and do good. Meghan was the living embodiment of what a hero should be. She thought Meghan would hate her, but the blonde did no such thing.

"I appreciate you sharing this with me."

"It doesn't bother you?"

"Regardless of why you're here, I know what you're capable of. Even if being a hero wasn't you're intent, I know you can be, and to me, you already are. Just like seeing the world and making a friend, it just kind of happens."

Ela was in shock, she expected Meghan to hate her, and instead she called her a hero, and a friend. She sat up and looked at the blonde. "Thank you."

"Don't mention it." Meghan gave her a smile. By now she could also feel the alcohol starting to hit her. "It's late, we should turn in."

"Sure." Ela agreed, she stood up and lost balance.

"Carful." Meghan managed to catch the girl. She briefly wondered how long she had been drinking before she arrived. "Let me help you."

"Thank you."

The two hobbled up the stairs and down the hall, Ela with her arm draped over Meghan's shoulder. Eventually, the two made it to Ela's room. Meghan managed to open the door without dropping her friend.

"Well, here we are." Meghan said, she walked Ela in and over to the bed. The green haired girl sat down. "I'm sure you can handle it from here." She joked.

Ela smiled and looked up at the blonde. Out of nowhere, she stood back up and wrapped her arms around the SEAL. Meghan froze, it took a moment for her to process that Ela was giving her a hug. She slowly returned the embrace. Now she knew that Ela was drunk.

"Stay here tonight." Ela whispered as she moved her head to the crook of Meghan's neck.

"You really sure about that?" Meghan asked. She felt the girl nod in response. Meghan giggled quietly, knowing that this was probably the alcohol talking. "Alright."

Meghan laid Ela down on the bed, the Polish girl immediately closing her eyes. Meghan took a minute to take off her shoes, she helped Ela remove hers as well. When she was done, she moved to the other side of the bed and laid down as well. She had just closed her eyes when she felt Ela move, pressing her back into Meghan's chest. Meghan's cheeks turned red, but eventually she relaxed, she even dared to go as far as wrap an arm around the girl's waist, Ela was either already asleep and didn't notice, or simply didn't mind. Now that they were spooning, Meghan could smell Ela's hair which carried the scent of lavender. She wondered if it was her shampoo or the hair dye. Meghan had to agree, the color looked nice on Ela, it was hard for her to imagine the girl with her natural dark brown hair.

Meghan was close to falling asleep, when a realization came to mind. Immediately she got out of bed and walked over to the door, which she quickly locked. She even considered propping a chair against it, but she figured at that point she was just being paranoid.

She returned to the bed and wrapped her arm around Ela once again and almost immediately, both were able to finally fall asleep.

* * *

Author's note: As always I hope you enjoyed and feel free to leave a review. Also for those of you who caught the Easter egg and are shaking your heads, I regret nothing, don't judge me. Until next time.


	7. Chapter 6

Author's note: So here's the next chapter. Just a heads up, if you want to be filled in on whats going on with the story, be sure to read the long authors note at the end. Enjoy.

* * *

What Will It Take?

Chapter 6

* * *

Ela let out a yawn as she woke up. She attempted to stretch when she realized something was constricting her. All the memories from the night before came rushing back to her, as drunk as she was, she still remembered everything from going to the coffee shop to Meghan helping her to bed. She was surprised at herself that she had the audacity to ask Meghan to spend the night, she was even more surprised that the blonde had accepted the offer. Speaking of which, said blonde was holding on to her tight and not letting go, those toned muscles being put to use. Ela really wanted to move, she managed to wiggle herself around to look her friend and paused at the sight of the sleeping woman. For once, Meghan looked calm, at peace, as if she finally wasn't overburdened by the world. It was also the first time Ela had noticed just how beautiful the Navy SEAL was. Her toned mussels, her lightly tanned skin, her pale blonde hair which was partially blocking her face. Without thinking, Ela moved the strands of stray hair and tucked it behind Meghan's ear. This caused the blonde the stir, Ela silently cursed and quickly moved her hand away. Meghan woke up as her green eyes opened to meet Ela's blue ones.

"Morning." The blonde greeted, it seemed she didn't notice Ela touching her hair.

"Good morning." Ela greeted back.

"How did you sleep?" She asked as she let go of her.

"That was actually the best night's sleep I've had since I got here." Ela answered, finally able to stretch.

"I can't remember the last time I slept that well either." Meghan rolled onto her back. "I guess alcohol really helps."

For a few minutes, the two of them just lay there staring at the ceiling, not saying anything.

"Thank you for last night." Ela spoke up.

"No thanks are necessary."

Ela was starting to think that Meghan was too selfless. "I know I was being difficult, you had every reason to give up on me and leave me in the rut I was stuck in, but you didn't. I'd say a thank you is necessary." She rolled back on her side to face the blonde. "Plus, you bought me coffee."

"I'm just happy to help." Meghan said as she turned to look at her. "I'm glad your feeling better after last night."

"So, our date didn't go so bad after all."

"Wait, what?!"

Ela laughed, "You guys were being really loud, I heard the jokes."

"Oh, sorry about that."

"Don't worry about it."

The two continued to look at one another, not saying anything, nothing more needed to be said. The two women were simply content with the others company.

Suddenly there was a knock at the door. "Ela?" Monika's voice came from the other side.

Ela's eyes went wide, if anyone were to walk in right now, they would definitely get the wrong idea. Without thinking, Ela pushed Meghan off the bed, out of view.

"Oof."

"Stay there and stay quiet." Ela whispered, she then threw the sheets on top of her, concealing her completely.

Ela got up and answered the door, greeting the German operator. "Monika."

"Hey, have you seen Meghan around, she wasn't in her room?"

"No, I haven't." Ela lied.

"Well, if you see her could you give her this, from me?" Monika handed her an unopened bottle of bourbon. "Also tell her I'm sorry for Eliza taking the last one."

"Sure. I'll make sure she gets it."

"Thanks. I would give it to her myself, but I have to take care of my idiot."

"Your what?"

"My girlfriend." Monika clarified. "She's hungover from the drinking contest last night."

"Oh, you meant Eliza."

Monika sighed. "A little piece of advice, if you fall in love with someone, make sure they're not a moron first."

"You think your girlfriends a moron?"

"I know she's a moron, but she my moron."

Ela was deeply confused, she had never been in a relationship and had no idea how things worked. From what she understood, it was two people who enjoyed each other's company, so the fact that Monika was calling her girlfriend a moron that she loved was odd to her.

"Don't get me wrong, I love her more than anyone in the world, but her antics are a headache."

"Then why stay with her?"

Monika looked at her, almost offended but realized that Ela was genuinely curious. "Because her annoying habits pale in comparison to the fact that she will do anything to keep me happy and our relationship strong."

"So, she's worth it?"

"Yes, without a doubt."

"How did you two even get together?" Ela was even more curious, the two women from what she saw, were almost polar opposites when it came to their personalities. Monika was always calm and well-mannered, where as Eliza didn't know what calm and collected was. She couldn't help but wonder how they could be attracted to each other.

"She was the first person to genuinely care for me. She would always go out of her way to make sure I was alright, even when I didn't ask for it, or deserve it."

Ela felt like there was more she wasn't telling her, but it was honestly none of her business. "She really cares about you."

"Exactly, and I care about her." Monika thought for a moment. "Speaking of which, I need to ask. In all seriousness, are you and Meghan…?"

"Are Meghan and I what?"

"Are you two together?"

"Oh." Ela was slightly embarrassed that anyone would be given that impression. "No, we're not."

"Oh." Monika sounded disappointed. "Well, that's to bad, whoever gets her will be an extremely lucky person."

Ela thought about the blonde and her caring nature. "Yeah, I guess they will."

Meghan was glad that no one could see her or the blush on her face.

"Well, I better get back to Eliza. I'll see you later."

"See you." Ela closed the door as Monika walked off.

Meghan stood up once she knew it was safe. "Wait, so we're not together?"

"Shut up." Ela responded, Meghan laughed, and Ela simply smiled.

Meghan then felt her stomach growl. "I'm starving, what time is it?"

Ela checked her watch, "Almost noon."

"Crap, we slept that late? I guess that really was the best sleep I've had in a while." Meghan's stomach growled again. "I've got some food we can cook in the lounge. I'll grab everything and meet you down stairs."

"Sounds great."

* * *

Meghan and Ela were cooking bacon and eggs for their breakfast, even though it was technically lunch time. They had also taken time to clean up some of the mess left behind from the night before. Meghan had brought more than enough for the two of them, she figured there would be more operators coming to join them at the smell of food.

"Smells fantastic." Ela commented. "Didn't know you could cook."

"After eating military rations for a few years, I decided to pick up the skill."

"Hmm, I guess I just got used to it."

"Looks like the first batch is ready, grab a plate."

Ela got one of the plates they brought, and Meghan placed some eggs and a few strips of bacon on it. Ela took a seat and began eating as Meghan got a plate for herself.

"How is it?" Meghan asked.

"Absolutely delicious, great job."

"Thanks."

"I guess whoever gets you really is going to be lucky."

Meghan blushed at the reference to what Monika had said earlier.

"Something smells delicious." A new voice came in.

"Good afternoon Julien, want some food?"

"Only if we share my croissants." The French operator held up a bag of the bread.

"Wow, where'd you get those?" Meghan questioned.

"My family sent them from home."

"Well, be sure to tell them thank you for us."

"Of course."

Julien made a plate of food for himself before joining the two women and gave them each a croissant.

"Nice to meet you by the way," He turned to Ela, "I'm Julien Nizan with GIGN."

"Ela Bosak, GROM." They shook hands.

"So how are you liking Rainbow so far?"

"Well, I wasn't quite sure what I was expecting, but it certainly wasn't this."

"I think that's most of us when we first get here." Julien laughed.

"So, Julien," Meghan chimed in. "how was Spain?"

"Are you referring to the mission, or the aftermath?" The Frenchman smiled.

"Either one, I guess."

"Well, any mission with the Russians is destined for chaos, but none the less be successful. It was just nice to get a small vacation as payment for once."

"Must have been nice."

"It was a nice change."

"So…any progress with Emma?"

"Ugh. At this point, I think I could hold up a neon sign saying, 'GO OUT WITH ME' and she wouldn't get the hint. She would probably focus on the faulty wiring of the sign."

Meghan laughed. "She'll come around eventually. Don't give up."

"Thanks." The poor man had been trying to court the French woman for over two years now, and everyone in Rainbow knew it, except Emma ironically. He would always flirt and show interest for the woman and she was still completely oblivious. Being an engineering prodigy meant she kept one hundred percent of her focus on technology like her drone, leaving poor Julien in the dust.

"Maybe if you dressed up as a robot she'd give you some attention." Another voice joined them in the lounge.

"Hey Miles." Meghan and Julien said in unison.

"You guys making food in here?"

"It's on the counter, help yourself." Meghan offered.

"Thanks." He said as he grabbed some food and joined the trio.

"This is Ela, one of our new operators." Meghan gestured to her friend.

"Miles Campbell, FBI. Welcome aboard." She shook his hand then introduced herself.

"So, Miles happy to be back?" Meghan asked.

"I must admit, I enjoyed this one more than usual, but overall, I'm happy to be back here where I get to see all your pretty faces."

"Fair enough."

The four of them continued to eat as they made small talk.

"So, Ela where are you from?" Miles asked.

"Wroclaw, Poland." Ela answered. "Born and raised."

"How was growing up there?"

"Well, my father was the head of GROM, so you can imagine living with that."

"So, your dad was also your boss? Man, I could never handle that."

"Was he your inspiration for joining the military?" Julien inquired.

"No, that was my grandfather, he fought for Poland during World War II."

"Cool, so where have you fought?" Miles asked another question.

"I spent four years in Iraq, and another year in Afghanistan."

"The Sandbox, nice."

Meghan wasn't saying anything, only watching the conversation unfold. She had to contain her surprise, just a few days ago, getting anything out of the Polish girl was like pulling teeth. Now, she was astonished to see her tell her friends about herself without hesitation. She noticed that she wasn't sharing the harsher details like dealing with her father, but that was understandable. She wondered if it was because of her help from last night. She was so lost in thought that she didn't notice the conversation had turned towards her.

"Meghan?" Julien had pulled her from her thoughts.

"Sorry, what?"

"Ela says you've fought together."

"Oh, yes, we fought together in Iraq and Afghanistan."

"So, you two have a history together." Miles hinted.

"Shut up."

"I'm just messing with you." All four operators laughed.

The four were so engrossed in their conversation, they didn't notice two additional people walk in.

"What's going on in here?" The four turned to see the oldest and youngest operators in Rainbow.

"Hey Mike, hey Mark, welcome back." Meghan greeted. "Want some food?"

Mark simply shook his head.

"No thanks, We're just here to pass on a message."

"Oh, what's up?"

"Monday at nine o clock, all hands in the meeting room, Six herself will be there giving the brief." Ela noticed he kept a serious look the whole time.

"New operation?"

"By the sounds of it, it seems so."

"Already? We just got back."

"Yeah, and it sounds like a big one, so don't be late."

"You got it dad." Miles joked.

"Shut up you fucking wanker." He turned to Ela. "Bosak, welcome to the team."

Mark nodded his head at her as well.

"Thank you."

"Another thing, that also means a lot more training in the near future, so be prepared. I heard about what happened to you, we won't have any more mishaps like that again."

Without saying any more, the two turned and left the lounge, presumably to tell the other operators about the upcoming meeting.

"That guy is always way too serious." Miles commented. "And Mark is way too quiet."

"No kidding." Meghan agreed.

"Well, youngsters tend to be shyer, and you would be grumpy too if you were known as the old man of Rainbow." Julien pointed out.

"I guess that's true."

"How old are they?" Ela asked.

"Mike is fifty-six, Mark is twenty-five." Miles answered.

"Wow."

* * *

The four of them made more conversation as finished their meal and cleaned up the dishes. Miles and Julien eventually had to leave to carry on with their day, Meghan and Ela decided to stay in the lounge.

"So, what do you feel like doing today?" Meghan asked.

"I'm not sure." Ela was laying on one of the couches.

"Anyone here?" Three more operators came into the lounge.

"Hey guys." Meghan greeted them. "This is Ela. Ela this is Jack, Gilles, and Gustave."

"Hello." Ela waved as she sat up.

"So, you're the new girl." Gilles commented.

"I suppose."

"Nice to meet you, Gilles Toure." He introduced himself with his slight French accent. "This in my colleague, Gustave Kateb. We're with GIGN."

"Nice to meet you two."

"So, I heard Meghan took care of you in my absence." Gustave inquired.

"Gustave is our resident doctor." Meghan clarified.

"Oh. Yes, she did."

"I've been meaning to ask what happened."

"Well, we were doing some training and a batch of sim rounds were defective. They were overloaded with propellent and hit me with more force than intended." Ela explained.

"She had a few hairline fractures and a lot of bruising, I just had her ice the wound and take it easy for a few days." Meghan elaborated for the doctor.

"Well, I'm glad you're alright, and that Meghan was able to take care of you. If you have any other medical concerns, don't be afraid to ask me." Gustave offered.

"I appreciate it."

"So Ela, what do you think of Rainbow." Jack asked.

"I think the people in it are some very interesting characters." Ela answered.

"I agree," he sat down on the couch next to her. "Jack Estrada, FBI."

"Nice to meet you Jack." She shook his hand. "So, you're Miles' friend."

"Yeah, we're colleagues." He smiled. "So, how did you end up here."

Meghan was sitting in a chair across from the two and she immediately felt uncomfortable where this was going.

"I was a PMC for four years, then transferred to GROM. Eventually, with my record of performance, Rainbow thought I would be a good addition."

"I'd say you look like a very fine addition to the team."

Meghan clenched her fists, she hated the idea of Jack hitting on Ela. She hated it even more when Ela smiled at the comment.

"Well, thank you. I look forward to working with you in the future."

"Well, it seems like we'll get the opportunity soon enough, not sure if you heard, but we got a new op coming up."

"Yes, we were told not too long ago."

"Can't wait to see you in action."

"Should be exciting."

"So, how do you like England? If you want, I can show you around."

"Sure, that sounds nice. Meghan showed me around a little last night."

"Well, I could show you a real good time, if you know what I mean."

By now, the other three were tired of Jack's blatant and cringy attempt at flirting, Meghan was keeping her self from strangling the man.

"Alright Romeo, lets go, we have a meeting to go to, in case you forgot." Gilles interrupted, he picked up Jack by the collar and pulled him away.

"I'll catch you later Ela." Jack said as they left.

"See you around." Ela gave him a smile as the three of them left. "He seems nice."

Meghan could feel her blood pressure return to normal with him gone. "Yeah, he's…something."

"Why did Gilles call him Romeo?"

"What do you mean?"

"It's just, I thought he said his last name was Estrada."

All Meghan could do was stare. Did Ela really not understand what Romeo meant? Did she even comprehend what was happening? "I…don't know." She lied.

"I wonder what he meant by showing me a good time."

"Who knows." Meghan realized that Ela had no idea what flirting was, probably no concept of romance in general. Well, at least that probably meant she wouldn't respond to Jack's advances, but what she didn't understand is, why it made her feel better.

"Guten tag ladies."

"What now?" Meghan thought to herself. She looked over and saw the other half of GSG-9. "Elias, Dominic, nice to have you back."

"Thank you, it's nice to be back." Elias greeted.

"Yes, it's good to see you Meghan." He reached out his hand.

Meghan accepted the handshake and was immediately overcome with the stinging sense of electricity. "OW! WHAT THE HELL?!"

Both Elias and Dominic burst out laughing. "You just fell for the old joy buzzer my dear."

"I thought the joy buzzer doesn't actually use electricity." She said, holding her numb hand.

"Not when you have a custom made one." Dominic boasted.

"You must be Ela." Elias greeted.

"Yes, I am." Ela greeted, making sure not to shake his hand.

"I'm Elias, and this is Dominic, we're from GSG-9 like Marius and Monika. Nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you too, I guess."

"You'll have to forgive him, he's a prankster."

"Prankster is putting it mildly." Meghan stated, by now, her entire forearm had gone completely numb. "Why are you two here?"

"We just wanted to meet our new friends, we spoke to Siu and Liu this morning, they seem really nice."

"What did you do to them? Stab 'em?"

"No, I don't prank people when I first meet them, speaking of which," he turned to Ela, "nice to meet you."

He extended his hand, although he seemed genuine about not pranking her, she still only grabbed the tip of his finger and shook it. "Nice to meet you as well."

For the third time that day Meghan watched as Ela told others about herself without shying away. Luckily, this time both of the guys were genuinely interested in meeting her and not getting with her. She was shocked how one night of progress had helped the Polish girl, Ela finally saw that she could trust the people around her. Meghan couldn't be happier for her friend.

"Hey guys." Eliza greeted as she and Monika entered.

"You're alive." Meghan greeted back.

"Takes more than that to kill me."

"Gentlemen, good to have you back." Monika greeted to her fellow GSG-9 operatives.

"Monika, nice to see you!" He gave the blonde woman a hug and immediately screamed in pain. "AHH!"

Monika stepped back revealing her own custom joy buzzer, everyone except Dominic laughed.

For the next few hours, the six of spent time them catching up and sharing stories about things that happened while they were apart. As different and odd as everyone was, they were a team, and a good one. In fact, with all the crazy and weird people involved, they seemed more like a family, and maybe Ela would fit in after all.

* * *

Author's note: And so ends Act 1 of the story. Next chapter will begin Act 2, and here's what you can expect: less character introductions, I still plan on every operator making an appearance, and significant ones (for example, Thermite saying one line in the previous chapter does not count as an appearance). However, they will be introduced in a different way. But with that being said, Act 2 will focus mostly on developing the main characters. I'm also adding a lot more action scenes, I really wanted to write more than two but I couldn't figure out where to fit any more of them in Act 1. Well that's about all I'm willing to give away, I just felt like you guys deserved to be kept in the loop. Also, since I'm starting a whole new phase for the story, the release of the next chapter will be delayed by about a week. As always, I hope you enjoyed and feel free to leave a review. Until next time.


	8. Chapter 7

Author's note: Well here we are again. I'm sorry for the delay, but I just wanted to make sure to kick off the second act right. I hope it lives up to everyone's expectations. Enjoy.

* * *

What Will It Take?

Chapter 7

* * *

"Man, fuck this place."

"Jeeze, do you ever do anything without complaining?"

"Why do we always get picked for the shitty jobs?"

"I guess that's a no."

"How do we even know that the intel on this is solid?"

"It's not, that's why they sent us here, to scout it out, because we're the SCOUT team."

"Whatever."

The two men had been trekking through the jungle for several hours, all they had were a set of coordinates to follow. The mission was long, and it wasn't easy, but they kept going. Both of them knew that the potential outcome of this mission could be game changing.

"Another thing."

"Oh god."

"Why do we have to go through the jungle? There's a road that leads right from the city to this place."

"Yes, but there's virtually no traffic. If HQ is correct on this, and we were to take that road, they would see us coming a mile away. We have to lay low, just in case."

The two walked for a few more minutes in silence.

"How much further?"

"About two more kilometers, we should be able to get a visual soon."

"That's if this thing is even there."

"What, you don't think so?"

"I have my doubts, even if it is there, there's no way anyone is using it."

"I don't know, it kind of makes sense to me. Who would think to look for someone out here?"

"I think this is a waste of time."

"Want to put money on it?"

"How much?"

"The usual?"

"Deal"

The two of them walked for a few more minutes as they approached the designated area.

"Hold up." The two stopped where they were, "You hear that?"

"Yeah."

The sound of engines and voices could be heard through the trees and brush.

"This way." The two of them moved quickly and quietly in the direction of the noise. After a few meters they reached a clearing. They stayed hidden in the edge of the brush, so they could see clearly in front of them. At first, they couldn't comprehend what they were seeing, then one of them smiled.

"Irvin, you owe me a dollar."

"Fuck you Norman."

* * *

 **Three days later**

All thirty-three operators were sitting in Hereford's conference room. The room itself resembled a normal college classroom, with multiple rows of seats and a large screen at the front. Everyone was free to sit where they want, some chose to sit in groups while others decided to sit alone. There was casual talk amongst the operators while they waited for Six and her advisors to make an appearance. Meghan sat in one of the middle rows, to her left was Eliza, Monika and Siu. The group of them were making small talk, but Meghan wasn't paying attention. Her focus was drawn towards the girl with green hair a few rows in front of her.

Ela was sitting with Jack, and although Meghan couldn't hear what they were saying, it was still blatantly obvious that he was hitting on the girl, again. Every few sentences he would say something, and Ela would respond with either a smile or a small laugh. Each time a smirk would appear on the mans face, and Meghan wanted to smack it off his face. She was so focused on the two, she didn't notice someone take the seat to her right.

"Eyeing your prey?"

Meghan hid her surprise as she looked at the owner of the voice. "What are you talking about Taina?"

"You haven't stopped staring at her since we came in."

"I'm just making sure she's alright."

"She seems healthy and happy to me."

"I don't think Jack is good for her."

"Oh, and what makes you say that?"

"I can tell he's just trying to get in her pants, she deserves better than that."

"She's an adult, I'm sure she can make that decision for herself."

"It's just, I know she's dealing with a lot right now, I don't think she needs to deal with someone trying to fuck her."

"You didn't complain when I did it to you."

"That was over a year ago. I just needed a release."

"Well, judging by your actions, you might be due for another."

"I'm not sleeping with you again, that was a one-time thing."

"Oh, I wasn't talking about me. Besides, I have my own target." The Brazilian commented as she looked over at Ryad.

"What do you-

"Alright, settle down people!" Everyone stopped talking immediately as Six and a few other people entered the room. The lights went dim and the projector turned on.

"Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for joining us today." Six greeted the operators. "I'll keep this simple, we have a new mission, and it's perhaps our most important one yet." An image appeared on the screen, bearing only two words. "As you can see, this is called Operation Blood Orchid. With this, we may be able to deal the biggest blow to the White Masks yet." By now, every operator had given the woman their full attention. "I'll let my colleague give the details." She gestured towards the one of the men at her side. "Captain Isaac."

Ela froze at the sight of the man, she didn't think there was any way that it was the same person she fought alongside a decade ago. Sure enough, as if some higher power wanted to shake up her day, there he stood, she hadn't seen or heard from the man in nearly ten years. She honestly thought by now he either would have quit the warfighting business, or he was dead. She also knew that there was no way he didn't recognize her as well.

"Thank you, ma'am." The man stepped forward, at the same time, a new slide appeared on the screen. "The structure you see on the screen is what remains of Cǎihóng Amusement Park located just north of Victoria Harbor. The park opened in early 2000 and was a popular attraction until a roller-coaster malfunctioned and killed several passengers. After that, it failed to recover resulting in it being closed down and abandoned about seven years ago."

The slide changed again, it was the same theme park but now it was filled with personnel wearing white face masks. "Three days ago, my scout team was sent in to observe a strange amount of activity in the area and discovered this." He gestured at the image. "White Masks, and a lot of them."

The image changed again to a wider view of the park. "They have consolidated a large amount of personnel, vehicles, and weapons here. It looks like they may be shipping and storing drugs as well."

"So, it's a large base for the White Masks." Mike summarized.

"More than that." Isaac noted. "We believe that this abandoned park is being used as the White Masks operational headquarters."

There was slight confusion among the room.

"You mean this is the heart of the terrorist organization?" Timur asked.

"Exactly."

The room was quiet, as if no one could really comprehend what they had just heard.

"So, what's the plan?" Meghan finally asked.

"The plan is simple. We have the blueprints for the layout of the main building." Isaac explained. The screen changed again to display a blue schematic of the theme park. "Over the next few weeks, you will be studying and memorizing this layout. We will then begin training to clear and liberate the place, room by room. We've already got people working on recreating the building for training use, it should be ready in a few days."

"If they're all consolidated in one area, why not just drop a couple bombs on the damned place?" Jordan inquired.

"Unfortunately, it's not that simple." Six explained. "We've talked with the Chinese government, they won't allow us to fly armed foreign jets so close to their capitol." The next image was of a map showing the proximity of the park to Hong Kong.

"Not to mention the panic it would cause." Isaac continued. "Explosions from an air bombing won't be well received. However, if we go in with small arms to clear the place, it can be kept relatively quiet, at the very least we can play it off as construction or something of that nature."

"If they're concerned with foreign planes, why not use their own?" asked Liu.

"China wants to keep this as quiet as possible. Your country's government doesn't want the world to know that the White Masks managed to hide their base right under their nose for who knows how long."

"You mentioned training taking place over a few weeks, how do we know that they will not have packed up and left by then?" Gilles asked.

"We're confident that with the amount of personnel and equipment present in the area, they are planning to use this base for the long haul. Not to mention moving that many assets to a new location will be a long and difficult process anyway. The point is, this is our best chance to deal a heavy blow to the enemy, but we have to make sure we do it right."

It seemed that no one else had any more questions.

"Training will commence immediately." Six spoke again. "While the simulation theme park is under construction, we will discuss strategy and execution. Manning rosters and gear lists will have to be drawn up. Then, when the training course is finished approximately forty-eight hours from now, I want non-stop practice runs until we have it down practically to a science. As the captain said, this is our best chance, if we fail here, we may never get an opportunity like this again."

The room fell into a heavy silence, for nearly two years, Rainbow had been fighting the White Masks. Every time, it seemed like they were simply cleaning up after the terror group, now it seemed like they would finally be able to strike first for once. Every operator, especially the more experienced ones, were looking forward to such an opportunity.

"We will reconvene here tonight. Everyone take the next few hours to figure out what you may need and take care of any issues you may have to settle, because we are going to be busy until this kicks off. Any more questions?" No one raised their hand. "Alright, everyone be back at 1900. Dismissed."

Everyone stood up and the small side conversations started up again.

"White Mask HQ, we might actually be able to hit them where it hurts." Eliza was excited. "What do you think Meg?"

No response.

"Meg?" Eliza looked at the blonde who seemed troubled. She tapped her on the shoulder "Meg!"

Meghan was shaken from her thoughts. "What?"

"You alright?"

"Yeah…I need to take care of something." She got up to leave.

"Wait, Meg, what's wrong?"

The blonde didn't say anything as she left the room, as she walked out to the hallway someone else called out to her. "Hey Valkyrie."

She turned around. "Hey. Can this wait? I have something kind of important to take care of."

"It will just be a second," He reached into his back pack. "I managed to get one of those old-fashioned cameras you were looking for." He handed her a camera that looked like it was from the 70's, which also came with its own leather carrying pouch.

"You actually managed to find one?" She asked as she accepted the gift. "How?"

"I told you, I can track down anything, and anyone."

"What do I owe you?"

"Nothing, just think of it as a thank you for getting me out of that scouting mission. Man, Irvin was pissed."

"You're awesome."

"I know."

"I have to go, we can talk later." She turned to leave. "Thanks again McConnell."

"No problem."

* * *

Back in the briefing room, Jack had resumed his attempts at flirting with Ela, but the Polish girl couldn't hear anything he was saying. Her eyes were locked on the captain at the front of the room. She didn't know if she wanted to go up and talk with him, or bolt from the room and never come back.

 _"Oh look, an old friend, this one is still alive."_ Another voice. _"You gonna run again? Who am I kidding, of course you are."_

Ela stood up and faced towards the door. Jack noticed and grew concerned. "You okay?"

"I…I can't."

"Can't what?"

She didn't respond, instead she simply walked away. She had to appear calm and collected, but on the inside, it was taking all her strength not to sprint as far away from this place as possible.

The walk back to the barracks seemed to go on forever. She made her way back to her room, as soon as the door was closed, she collapsed. She felt like the room was spinning. So much was running through her mind, she replayed everything from the four years she spent with her team in Iraq. The first time they had met, their first mission, the first time she had killed…the day she had gotten them killed.

Why was he here? Did he know she would be here? Did he know now? He had to, there was no way he didn't notice her green hair in the crowd. Were the others here? Were they even alive? What would they think of her now? Would they even want to see her?

 _"I don't know why you're even asking, you know the answer."_

"West?"

 _"Hey, you remembered."_

"Why…why do you all keep haunting me?"

 _"Maybe it's because you let us."_

"Why can't you all just leave me alone?"

 _"We're all in your head Bosak, the only one that keeps bringing us back is you."_

By now Ela was shaking, both from fear, and confusion.

"I just want to get away, this was supposed to be a new start for me. I want to leave all of that behind, I want to move on. Why can't I do so?"

 _"Maybe you should ask Isaac."_ This time it was her father's voice.

She looked up, and they were standing there. Her father, West, Nelson, Daniels, Jacobson, and Stevens. They were staring back at her, blankly.

All she could do was scream.

* * *

Meghan stood outside of her favorite coffee shop, in her head she was going over the conversation she was about to have. She knew this wasn't going to be easy, but it needed to be done and she only had a few hours till she had to be back. Finally, she took a deep breath and stepped inside. Business appeared slow since it was the middle of the work day, which was fine, it made things a little more private.

"Hey Meghan!" Came a familiar voice. "You're here early."

"Hey Lena." Meghan greeted.

"What can I get ya?"

"Actually, can we talk for a minute?"

Lena's smile disappeared. "Sure. Just give me a minute."

"Okay." Meghan walked over to one of the tables and took a seat.

After a couple minutes, Lena came out with drinks for both of them. She was noticeably less cheery than usual as she took a seat across from Meghan. "Here luv, it's on the house."

"Aw, thanks Lena." Meghan took a minute to take a few sips from her drink, hesitant to begin. Finally, she spoke up. "Lena…I-

"You're going again aren't you?"

Meghan was surprised. "How did you-

"This isn't the first time we've had this conversation Meghan" Lena interrupted again.

"Oh. Right." Meghan realized that she shouldn't have been that surprised. They had talked about this before for Dust Line, Skull Rain, and Red Crow. Meghan recalled how excited Lena had been when she found out she was staying behind for Velvet Shell.

"Is it going to be dangerous?" Lena asked tentatively.

"No more than the others." This didn't seem to help Lena's peace of mind.

"Can you tell me where?"

"No. Not until I get back."

"How long will you be gone?"

"Maybe a month, give or take."

By now Lena was slightly trembling. "You're going to be careful right?"

"I always am. You don't need to worry about that."

"No, bullshit Meghan, I absolutely have to worry about that!" Lena snapped. By now, tears were running down her face and falling into her drink, which remained untouched. She looked down and spoke softly. "I'm sorry."

Meghan moved to the other side of the table and wrapped her arms around the smaller girl, who started quietly sobbing as she grabbed on to her as if she were leaving right this second. "I'll be okay Lena."

"You promise?"

"Of course, I've made it back in one piece all the other times, haven't I?"

"That doesn't make it any easier. What's to say this one won't be different?"

"Come on, surly you have more confidence in me than that."

"It's not that I'm not confident it's just…"

"I know what you mean." Meghan used her thumbs to wipe away the tears from Lena's eyes.

"I was so happy that you weren't going on the last one, we got to spend so much time together. I guess I fooled myself into believing you would never have to go again."

Meghan was starting to feel even worse for the girl. The two really bonded over the past year, they really considered each other as sisters. Like her mom, Meghan hated that Lena had to live with the fact that, at any time, she could get a call saying that Meghan had been hurt or killed. Lena was strong, she had supported Meghan throughout every operation, and was always there for her whenever she needed to escape once in a while, Meghan wanted to make it up to her. "I'll tell you what, when I come back, I'll take some leave. We'll hang out together just you and me, we'll do what whatever you feel like."

"What? You mean it?"

"Of course, Amelie can join us too."

"I thought she creeped you out."

"If she makes you happy, how bad can she be."

Lena's smile had returned. "I'm going to hold you to that."

"Of course." Meghan smiled back.

"You are really something Meghan Castellano."

"Look who's talking luv."

"Shut up." Lena giggled. Her chipper attitude had returned, which Meghan was happy to see.

"Well, I have a few hours before they need me back. Anything new with you?"

"Funny you should ask. Something big did happen." Lena was slightly blushing.

"Oh really, do tell."

"Well, I finally came out to my parents."

"Really?! Well, how did that go?"

"Well…to be honest, I think they already knew."

"Well that doesn't surprise me."

"What's that supposed to mean?!"

"You aren't the subtlest person, Lena. When you first saw Amelie, you were practically drooling." This made Lena blush again. "So how did it go with Amelie?"

"I'm fairly sure she got their stamp of approval."

"That's great! What does Amelie think?"

"She was happy that I introduced her. She was happier with the fact that I finally mustered the strength to 'show her off'."

"That sounds like her. I'm happy for you, everything turned out well."

"Yeah well, that's not all…"

"Oh, what else is there."

"Well, we just hit our one year anniversary and we decided to um…celebrate."

Meghan's face turned serious. "What?! You mean…"

"Yeah."

"I'm going to kill her!"

"Meghan, relax! It was my idea."

"Are you serious?!"

"Yes, now calm down."

Meghan calmed herself slightly. "Okay, explain."

"What is there to explain? We've been together for a year now, we felt like the time was right. I actually wanted to do it months ago, but she didn't think we were ready. She looks out for me, Meghan. Like I said, she's really sweet once you get to know her."

Meghan listened to what the girl was saying, processing every word, she took a deep breath. "Okay."

"You're not too upset, are you?"

"I guess I really can't be when you put it that way. Just make sure she knows that if she ever hurts you, I'll make sure she regrets it."

Lena laughed. "Oh, trust me, she knows."

"Good." Meghan was able to relax again. "Oh, hey. Check out what I just got." Meghan pulled out the camera from earlier and showed it to Lena.

"Is that the camera you've been searching for?"

"The exact one, a friend of mine managed to scrounge one for me."

"Looks really cool." Lena commented, admiring the relic.

"I haven't used it yet, want to do me the honor of taking the first picture with me?"

"Oh, what a privilege." Lena said sarcastically.

The two moved closer together and smiled as Meghan snapped a photo of the two of them.

"I can't wait to see it once its developed."

The two talked for a couple more hours, talking about the array of different things going on in their lives. Eventually, the time came, and Meghan had to leave.

"Looks like I have to go, we're meeting up again in an hour." Meghan looked at her watch. "I'm going to be really busy until we leave, but I promise, any spare time I have, we'll spend together."

"Okay."

Meghan hugged Lena one more time.

"You better come back in one piece."

"I will, I promise."

Lena watched as Meghan left the shop back to Hereford, as she did, one last tear ran down her cheek.

* * *

Author's note: So we get to start off Act 2 by saying hello to a few old friends. I was always planning to have Isaac and the rest of the surviving team members show up eventually. However, I wasn't originally going to have Lena appear again, but the scene seemed to fit the story so well, now she has half a chapter dedicated to her. As always, hope you enjoyed and feel free to leave a review. Until next time.


	9. Chapter 8

Author's note: I really tried to get this out on time, but unfortunately I've been really busy lately and I didn't have as much time to write. At least it's out now and I hope you guys like it. Enjoy.

* * *

What Will It Take?

Chapter 8

* * *

"Tango down."

"Good, keep moving."

"Clear, left."

"Clear, right."

"Check your corners."

The five-man team, consisting of Thatcher, Smoke, Sledge, Ela, and Pulse, moved swiftly through the building.

"Hallway, clear."

"Keep moving."

An enemy peeked around the corner, holding an assault rifle.

"Contact, left side!"

"Open fire!"

James emptied his SMG-11 into the enemy who dropped to the ground. "Another down."

"I think there's more in this room." Jack commented. He pulled out his sensor and held it up to the wall. "Yeah, I'm reading three."

"Seamus, you're up." Mike ordered.

"With pleasure." The Scotsman raised his hammer and swung with all his might at the plywood door, shattering it instantly.

"Beauties are in place." James shouted as he threw one of his canisters in the opening. A moment later, a hissing could be heard, followed by a lot of coughing, followed by silence. "That's three more down."

"Room clear, moving on." Mike advised.

The team approached another doorway and prepared to breach. James put his SMG away and pulled out his M590. "I like to keep this for close encounters."

Mike kicked in the door, the rest of the team stormed the room.

"Clear on the left." Seamus reported.

"Clear, right." Said Jack.

"CHECK THOSE CORNERS!" Mike yelled, for no apparent reason.

They moved to the next room.

"Contact! Seven tangos." James yelled

"Open fire!"

All five of them took cover and began firing their weapons at the enemy squad.

"Frag out!" Seamus yelled. The following explosion killing two of the seven opponents. The remaining five continued their volley of bullets.

"Damn, Seamus you got anymore frags?!" Mike asked.

"That was my last one lad!"

"James what about you, any more canisters?"

"Fresh out mate."

Mike thought for a moment. "I got an idea! Seamus, with me, the rest of you keep them busy." The two of them left the room.

"Where the hell are they going?!" Jack asked.

"I don't know, but we better do as he says." James answered.

The three remaining operators kept up their fire for another minute but were getting restless. "I think those guys bugged out." Jack barked.

"Just keep firing." James said. "Mike knows what he's doing."

Just then, the door behind the enemy combatants burst open, revealing Seamus and Mike. The two SAS operators unloaded their L85s into the enemy team. By the time their magazines were empty, only one combatant remained. Mike quickly drew his signature blade from his wrist and shoved it into the man's throat.

"Room clear." Seamus said.

"Sorry 'bout the delay, we ran into some roadblocks." Mike explained. "Ammo check."

"We're all running low man." Jack reported.

"There's still half this place we have to clear through." James said.

"We're wasting time, just make your shots count, let's move!"

"This is gonna bite us in the ass."

The team continued to the next room, once again Jack brought out his sensor.

"Only one, this will be easy."

"Seamus, James, you guys take 'em, the rest of us will cover you." Mike ordered as he set a charge on the door. "Get ready to breach." The two SAS operators took positions on each side of the door, while the other three guarded both sides of the hallway.

"GO!" There was an explosion and the two men rushed in.

It was difficult to see through the smoke and debris, but they could make out a lone figure standing in the room. Seamus fired a burst into the enemy soldier, while James fired his shotgun twice.

"Got em." Seamus cheered.

Instead of falling to the ground as expected, the figure merely turned around to face the men. Suddenly, blue and red lights began to flash, along with the sound of beeping. The assailant then began to charge at the operators.

"BOMBER!" was all James could yell before the explosion went off.

Outside the room, the remaining three operators felt the building shake from the deafening blow.

"What the fuck?!" Jack yelled. All of them then rushed in to check on their teammates.

"Bloody hell, my legs messed up." James yelled in pain. Ela and stopped to help him.

Mike walked over to check on Seamus, who wasn't moving, it didn't take long to make an assessment. "Sledge is gone."

"Look man, we can't keep going like this." Jack tried to reason. "Let's fall back a little bit and try to take a defensive position. Let them come to us instead."

Mike thought about the idea for a few seconds. "Alright, we'll take up a fighting spot a few rooms back. You pick up James, Ela and I will cover you."

Jack grabbed James and began slowly dragging him back in the direction from where they came. It slowed them down, but they had to take care of their wounded friend. After about a minute, they realized something was off.

"It's too quiet, where did they all go." Mike asked.

"Probably regrouping, getting ready to launch a counter attack." Jack guessed.

"Then we need to be ready, lets take hold in that room there." Mike pointed to one of the rooms at the end of the corridor. "Let's move." He began helping Jack drag James.

They managed to reach the room. "Ela, check it again, make sure there's no surprises." Mike ordered.

Ela stepped inside and looked around. There were a few chairs and a desk in the room, but no sign of anyone. "Clear."

"Wait, you guys hear that."

Everyone quieted down and stopped moving so they could listen. Foot steps were echoing through the building. The sounds were coming from the floor above them.

"I don't think they know we're here, keep moving." Mike said.

They began to move James again, when suddenly a volley of bullets started raining from the ceiling.

"Fuck, get inside now!" Mike shouted as he tried to return fire through the floor above them.

The team tried to move faster, as they about to move through the doorway, another volley of bullets came down. Without warning, one bullet struck Mike in the head, the man instantly dropped to the ground dead.

"Fuck!" James yelled, having seen his friend go down.

"We have to get in there!" Jack yelled as he dragged James through the doorway.

Just as they made it inside, an enemy popped out from under the desk bearing a shotgun. Ela hadn't done a thorough enough job checking and missed him. Before she could react, he put one bullet into her chest, her body armor absorbed some of the blast, but she still fell to the ground injured.

"What the fuck?!" Jack tried to raise his weapon to shoot the assailant, but it was to late. Another shot was fired, and the buckshot ripped through both men, killing them.

The gunman hopped over the desk and looked down at the still injured Ela. He pointed the gun at her and fired one final round into her chest, bringing the battle to an end. After all the chaos, everything had finally calmed down to an eerie quiet. Rainbow had failed.

"Alright, everyone get up." Six's voice came over an intercom as all the lights turned on.

"Well, that could have gone better." James said as he began wiping the red paint off himself.

"Yeah, if you didn't weigh so much, maybe I could have moved faster." Jack joked.

"Everyone clean yourselves up and make your way back to the briefing area." Six's voice came over the intercom once more.

"Great, now we get to hear about how much we sucked." Jack commented.

"We still had the best run so far, at least we have that." Mike reassured.

* * *

After getting cleaned up, the five operators made their way back to the briefing room where Six, Isaac and the other operators were waiting. As soon as they showed up, the comments started going.

"Hey, good job with that bomber." Sebastien commented.

"Hey Mike, you should try not getting shot in the head." Eliza joked.

"Thanks for the advice." Mike replied sarcastically.

"What? I manage to do it just fine."

"Eliza, shut up." Monika ordered.

"Alright, everyone settle down." Six ordered. Everyone quieted down and took their seats. "Let's begin the analysis, Captain Isaac."

"Yes ma'am." The man stepped forward, at the same time the main screen lit up, showing a few different statistics from the fight. "Theme Park Simulation Run number eighteen results are, as you all just witnessed, Mission failed status, with fifty-six confirmed kills out of one hundred and twenty total enemy targets. Although this has been the best run through so far, we have yet to even reach fifty percent on clearing this place. Now, let's review each operators performance."

Several video feeds of the practice run appeared on the screen. "Let's start with Thatcher, your leadership definitely stood out this run, however there were still some flaws. Although its good to be sparing with your gadgets during a mission, you seemed to be almost too sparing. You only used one by the time you went down and using one in the room with the bomber would have disabled the explosives, which would have prevented you from ending up in the situation of one man down and another injured. You also didn't use any of your drones and took off your laser sight prior to the mission starting."

"Fucking laser sights." Was all the man said in response.

The video feed switched from Mike to Seamus. "Sledge, one big problem we saw is that, when breaching rooms, you would break down the door when clearly there was an unreinforced wall available. Enemies will expect a breach to come from a doorway, but if a breach is from one of the walls, or even a window, it will add a small element of surprise and take a moment for them to adjust. This adds a big momentary advantage for you and the team."

James appeared next on the screen. "Smoke, during the run, every instance where you used your canisters, you did so without identifying your targets. I understand that this place is most likely filled with nothing but enemies, but you never know when they might be using an innocent civilian as a human shield."

Next was Jack's turn for scrutiny. "Pulse, you earned top marks on this run, for most kills and assisting an injured team mate. With that being said, one negative feedback we have is that you only used your heartbeat sensor on about sixty percent of the rooms you cleared. You have a very useful tool at your disposal, utilize it as much as possible."

Finally, it was Ela's turn. "Ela, unfortunately you earned last place, with the least amount of kills and assists. You failed to fully sweep the final room which ultimately lead to the last three of you 'dying'. And one last thing." He looked at her with a serious stare. "For God's sake communicate with your team."

Ela didn't know what to make of his final comment. Which team had he meant?

"So, since this is the eighteenth failure, anyone have any ideas on how to improve?" Six asked. Since the course was built, Rainbow had been running three practice runs per day, and this was day six of trying. They had tried various strategies with compositions, entry points and such, each time only brought failure and the team was getting frustrated.

For a moment there was silence, then someone spoke up. "Ma'am, I have idea."

"IQ, let's hear it."

"This whole time we've been using teams of five, its pretty much our signature." The blonde started to explain. "Now might be the time to change that."

Six seemed intrigued. "Elaborate."

"Well, we've made it a point that we can take on a large number of enemies with a small team. But, even with our record, we've never taken on an enemy force consisting of more than forty combatants. Now, we're facing a force estimated to be three times that size, so we should consider looking into making the team larger as well. It might be harder to coordinate, but if we can pull it off, it could make this mission much easier."

Small chatter began amongst the operators, many of them seeming to agree with Monika. Six took in every bit of information she was given. "Thank you, I'll consider our options tonight and give you an answer tomorrow. With that, I hope we've all learned something from the practice runs today. You're all dismissed, get some rest tonight, practice runs will continue tomorrow."

Everyone gathered their belongings and began to exit the room, Ela being the first to leave. Meghan, who had been watching the whole time, recognized the look on Ela's face as she left, it was the same look she had when she had left her at the coffee shop. Ela was scared and in pain, at least emotionally, and she needed help. Ever since Jack had began flirting with the Polish girl, Meghan had kept her distance. She enjoyed Ela's company, but part of taking care of the girl was making sure she integrated with the rest of the team, and although she didn't approve of Jack, if it helped Ela do so, she would let things be. With that being said, she was starting to miss spending time with her friend, maybe this was an opportunity that she could have with her.

Meghan picked up her things and followed the girl. She eventually saw her standing next to the entrance of the building, still looking distraught. She really wanted to be there for Ela and see what was bothering her this time. Meghan began to approach the her, however, a voice called out to the Polish girl.

"Hey Ela." It was Jack, who seemed to beat Meghan to her. "Good work out there today, best run out of everyone."

"Thanks, good job to you as well, top marks." Ela replied. Neither of them noticed that Meghan was behind them, watching.

"I couldn't have done it without you and the rest of the guys."

"I guess we do make a good team."

"We do." He didn't seem to notice Ela's current state of distress, or maybe Meghan was the only one who knew Ela well enough to pick up on it. "Anyways, I wanted to ask you something."

"What is it?"

"Would you like to go out and have dinner with me tonight, my treat?"

Ela didn't know what to say, since she was young multiple men had asked her out on dates, and she had rejected all of them. But now things were different, she no longer wanted to be alone, and Jack had proven to be a good friend, but a date? Ela was changing a lot of things about her life, maybe this was another change she needed as well. "Sure, I'd love to."

Meghan felt like she had been punched in the stomach, all she could do was watch as the two of them walked back to the barracks together. She thought about going after them, but Tiana's words rang in her head, _'She's an adult, I'm sure she can make that decision for herself.'_ With that, she simply turned away and began walking back to the briefing room, and almost crashed right into her friend Jordan.

The former Marine stood there with his arms crossed. "Are you just going to let him take your girl like that?" He asked.

Meghan couldn't hide her surprise from almost colliding with the man. "What?!"

"Ela, with Jack? Come on, everyone knows she was yours from the beginning."

"She isn't mine, I'm not trying to make her mine, she's free to date whoever she wants."

"You saw the look on her face, she didn't even want to say yes."

"Well, she did."

"Seriously, you think she wants to date the bald kid from Codename Kids Next Door?"

"Who's dating Jack?" Tina asked as she came out of the briefing room.

"Oh great." Meghan thought to herself.

"Jack's taking Ela out on a date." Jordan clarified.

"Wait, I thought you were with her." Tina questioned Meghan.

"NO! Why does everyone think that?!"

"Well, Monika saw you hiding in her room last week, so we all just assumed…"

"Oh god." Meghan blushed, she should have realized that Monika was more than smart enough to pick up on her hiding behind Ela's bed. "Look, whatever you guys think that was, you're wrong. We're not together, nor are we trying to be."

"So, you're not bothered that Jack is taking her out tonight?" Tina asked.

Meghan opened her mouth to retort, but nothing came out. She didn't know what to say, so she simply tuned and walked away.

* * *

After making her way back to the barracks, Meghan went directly to her room. The conversation with Jordan and Tina had really bothered her. It seemed everyone had the idea that there was something going on between her and her GROM friend. Yes, it was true that they had spent a lot of time together, and she missed her, but there was nothing romantic going on between them. Almost every day since Ela had arrived, she had to clarify to someone that the two of them were just friends, and it was starting to get on her nerves.

Meghan sighed in frustration, she needed to get away from this. They were on the verge of taking down the most powerful and deadly terror organization in the world, she shouldn't have to be worrying about who's dating who, like some high school drama, she was supposed to be a badass for Pete's sake. Suddenly, her phone dinged, she pulled it out of her pocket and looked at the screen, it was a message from Lena.

" _You still working?"_

Meghan typed out a response. _"Just finished for the day. What about you?"_

After a few seconds another message popped up. _"Just finished as well. Coming to the shop?"_

" _Definitely. Taking a shower first, be there in a few."_

" _Great. Amelie's here too btw. I told her what you said, she thinks you're still mad. She's trying really hard to act like she's not scared XD"_

Meghan smiled as she typed out another response. _"We're gonna take advantage of this, tell her I'm on my way and can't wait to see her."_

" _Brilliant, see you soon ;)"_

Meghan immediately felt better, she was looking for a distraction and hanging out with Lena and her girlfriend would definitely provide one. She stripped out of her tactical gear and stepped into her shower, looking forward to spending what little spare time she had with her friend.

* * *

Author's note: Again, I apologize for the delay. On top of my normal schedule, I'm dealing with something else. I currently live in Japan and I found out I will be moving back to the United States in about two months so I'm getting ready for that (I honestly can't wait). With that, I'm going to try my best to release new chapters on time but unfortunately I can't make any promises. On a lighter note, I've decided that I'm going to try to put an easter egg in each chapter, every FPS gamer probably caught this one. As always, I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter and feel free to leave a review. Until next time.


	10. Chapter 9

Author's note: Well here's the next chapter. I'm really sorry I haven't been keeping to my two week schedule, I'm still preparing to move. I hope this chapter was worth the wait. Enjoy.

* * *

What Will It Take?

Chapter 9

* * *

"So, Amelie, I hear things are going very well between you two."

Meghan was sitting in her favorite coffee shop across from Lena and Amelie. The French girl was giving her a cold stare, as she did with everyone, but Meghan could see through it, she could tell that the girl was afraid. She was able to tell by both girl's actions. Normally, whenever they were together, the two girls would always maintain physical contact with one another, Amelie would always have at least one arm wrapped around her girlfriend, and Lena would always have her head buried in Amelie's neck. Now the two of them, specifically Amelie, were keeping as much distance from each other as possible. Meghan wasn't actually mad at her, in fact, she honestly thought the two of them were absolutely adorable. But, she couldn't resist messing with the girl, and she had to keep herself from laughing.

"Yes, I would say things are going very well." Amelie answered calmly.

"I heard Lena finally introduced you to her parents. How did that go?" Meghan asked, even though she already knew the answer.

"They seemed to approve of our relationship, they said they were happy for us."

"That's good." Meghan began stirring her drink and gave the French girl her most menacing stare. "I also heard that you took advantage of Lena once you two were alone."

Finally, she saw it. Ever since Meghan had met Amelie, she kept up this cold dark persona at all times, and it always creeped Meghan out to the point where she was concerned for Lena's safety. Now, she finally saw it break. Amelie was now showing both surprise, and a little bit of fear. "Quelle?" Amelie looked at Lena who was keeping her gaze towards the floor. Of course, Meghan already knew that Lena was really the one who came onto Amelie, acting like it was Amelie's idea made so much more fun.

"You know Lena is like a sister to me, right?"

"Yes, and I-

"And you know that I'm a Navy SEAL, right?"

"Of course, but-

"And you understand that I don't like the idea of a twenty-two-year-old creep hurting my seventeen-year-old sis."

Amelie reached over and grabbed Lena's hand, her face filled with concern. "Lena, did I really hurt you?"

The British girl looked up in surprise. "Wait, what?"

"Lena, I didn't mean to. I'm sorry, maybe we weren't ready. You have to believe me, it wasn't my intension." Amelie almost looked like she was about to cry.

"Awww, luv." Lena's heart was practically melting

Meghan had to hide her surprise as well, here was Amelie being threatened by a Navy SEAL and her only concern was Lena's wellbeing, or maybe Meghan just wasn't all that intimidating. Either way, if she had any doubts about the French girl, they were gone now.

"Oh, for goodness sake, alright. You two can stop being adorable now." The two looked back at her. "Amelie, I was just kidding, I know it was Lena's idea, and I know you didn't hurt her."

"You were joking?" Amelie asked, confused.

"Yes, I'm not really mad, in fact, I'm happy for you two."

By now Lena was trying really hard not to burst out laughing. "Got you good, luv."

"Such a cruel prank." Amelie crossed her arms and tried to look away to hide her embarrassment. She also tried to bring back her usual cold stare, but it was too late.

"Aww, don't be like that babe. This is good news, everyone who cares about us now approves." Lena wrapped her arms around the French girl.

Amelie looked back to Meghan. "You are okay with this."

"Yes, I am." Meghan smiled. "Just, take care of her when I'm gone alright?"

For the first time ever, Meghan saw Amelie offer a smile back. "Oui."

"Thank you."

"Oi, Meghan." Lena piped up as she pointed toward the window. "Isn't that the girl you went on a date with?"

"It wasn't a-

Meghan turned around and saw Ela and Jack walking by the window of the coffee shop. She couldn't tell for sure, but she thought she saw Ela look through the window at her, or maybe it was her imagination. The two continued walking passed the shop and Meghan turned back to face the other two.

"I can't believe she turned you down for a guy like that." Lena commented.

"She didn't turn me down."

"Seriously, you're leagues above him."

"I'm not even sure if she likes girls."

"He looks like a creep."

"Are you even listening to me?"

"Why is he wearing sunglasses at night?" Amelie asked.

* * *

Jack had brought Ela to one of the local restaurant's in Hereford. It wasn't anything too fancy, much to her delight. As a child, the only time she ever went to any high-end places was when her father would have meetings with other commanders and politicians. Right now, she wanted to stay away from anything that reminded her of him.

Although she was perfectly fine with the venue, the food choices were questionable. She had never tried British food before, and she could tell that it was probably for the best.

"The food here seems…interesting." She commented.

"I'll be honest, I've been out here for three years, at first I wasn't too keen on the food here, now I've come to enjoy it." Jack responded.

"Maybe I still need more time."

Eventually their waiter came and took their orders, Ela simply picked something she thought she might be able to tolerate. In actuality, she just wasn't hungry, the events from the past week had been eating away at her, she hadn't really eaten or slept since seeing Isaac again.

"So, Ela, you said you're from Wroclaw, how was that?" Jack asked, wanting to know more about his date.

"Well, my father was the commander of GROM," she started without much enthusiasm, "as a child, my sister and I wanted to follow in his footsteps."

"But he was hard on you two, wasn't he?" Jack interrupted.

"Yes, he was." Ela answered, a bit surprised. "I eventually dropped out of the program."

"But your sister stayed in, and he favored her for that."

Now Ela was shocked. "How did you know?"

"I can tell by the way you talk, I'm an expert on reading people's behaviors and speech patterns, sometimes how you say something tells me more than what you actually said. It's how I became an expert negotiator for the FBI." He bragged. "For example, your dad being a high ranking military officer probably means he was very proper, you dying your hair green is a way of defying that."

Ela knew he was trying to impress her, but now she was a little uncomfortable. She knew she was trying to open up to people, but she would have felt better telling him that information when she was ready. Now she felt creeped out that he was able to find out so much about her without saying very much. The only one she ever told that about herself was Meghan.

Her thoughts drifted to the blonde, she remembered when she had told the SEAL about her past. She had done so willingly and felt safe while doing so. As much as she knew Meghan wanted to pry and get as much out of her as possible, she let Ela do it only when she felt like she could trust her, and so far, that trust hadn't been broken. Ela had seen her friend when she and Jack walked past the coffee shop earlier, looking back she wished she had stopped to say hi. The two hadn't spoken in about a week and Ela was starting to miss her company.

"Ela?"

Ela was broken from her thoughts. "I'm sorry, I didn't hear you."

"I just wanted to hear more about you."

Ela wasn't sure if she wanted him deducing more secret information about her. "Actually, I was curious about you, where did you grow up?"

He seemed to notice her purposely change the subject but answered anyway. "Well, I was born in North Carolina, but being that both of my parents were in the military, I moved around a lot. Like you, I followed in my parent's footsteps and became an intelligence officer."

An intel officer, just like Meghan, but why was he so much less interesting. "Hmm."

"I can tell you not that interested." He commented.

"No, it's not that, it's just…"

" _Wow, now I can believe you've really never dated anyone."_

" _I don't think it's going that bad."_ Jacobson and Stevens had now made an appearance, at this point Ela wasn't sure if she was going to freak out again, or thankful for a distraction.

" _Bosak, ditch this guy, he's weird."_

" _I don't think he's that weird, I mean, you're talking to a couple of dead guys in your head."_

" _Stevens, we don't get paid to think."_

" _You don't pay me, we don't even exist. We're just a clever visual metaphor used to personify the abstract concept of thought."_

"Ela?" Once again, Jack pulled her from said thoughts. "You alright?"

"Sorry, I was distracted."

"You're uncomfortable that I can tell these aren't you."

"No, no." She was just trying to be nice.

"Your body language says otherwise."

"I guess I would like it if we talked about something else."

This was going to be a long night

* * *

"Wow, that was amazing."

"I'm glad you enjoyed it."

Eliza and Monika were both laying on the German woman's bed, catching their breath. This was the first time they had slept together since the video incident and Eliza indulged as much as she could. Monika would never admit it, but she was just as restless as her girlfriend and had been eager for her touch as well. Now the two were physically exhausted.

"Am I finally allowed to stay the night again?" Eliza asked, half-jokingly. Although things had been going well between the two, Monika had still refused to let her girlfriend spend the night due to how upset she was when she saw Eliza practically drooling over the images of another woman.

"Hmm, I guess I could let you stay," Monika gave the red head a lustful look, "just in case I feel like going for round five."

If Eliza weren't so spent, she would have taken the blonde woman right then, but instead she decided to grab the sheets and cover their still naked bodies. "Well that's very kind of you." She said sarcastically.

"Also, you're sleeping on the wet spot."

"Fair enough."

Eliza wrapped an arm around her girlfriend and pulled her close, Monika took her normal spot and rested her head on the redhead's chest. Eliza kissed the top of the blonde's head, neither would admit it, but they both missed this more than the actual sex. They had grown accustomed to sleeping next to one another, the past several days that they had spent in different rooms felt unnatural. Eliza was beginning to think that there was no way she could ever handle being without the blonde angel in her arms. "Ich liebe dich, Monika."

Monika smiled. "I love you too."

For a while, they didn't say anything more, just basking in each other's company. Eliza absentmindedly began running her fingers through Monika's hair, almost putting the blonde to sleep.

"Hey, good idea by the way." Eliza said, breaking the silence.

"About having a larger team?" Monika asked, opening her eyes.

"Yeah, you think Six will allow it?"

"Well, if not, I don't know what our options are," the German elaborated, "because what we're trying isn't working, and we're running out of time."

"Well, judging by the captain's tone, he seems to be getting frustrated as well. Did you hear the way he spoke to Ela?"

"Yeah. I know not everyone was performing at peak performance today, but he seemed to have it out for her in particular."

"Yeah, I wonder why that is?" Eliza thought for a moment. "Did you notice how well she was doing with the team? But then she started to become closed off again as soon as we got that brief on Blood Orchid."

Monika took a second to recall. "Yes, and I believe that was when she was first introduced to him."

"Hmm, something's going on with those two and it seems to be affecting Ela negatively."

"I hope she's not taking things too hard."

"I'm sure she's fine, now that she's on a date with Meghan."

Monika looked at her girlfriend in confusion. "What did you say?"

"I was looking for her earlier to check up on her and I heard she went on a date, I didn't hear who with, but I couldn't help but notice that Meghan wasn't here either." Eliza smiled, happy for her friends. "I mean, Meghan clearly has a thing for her, and who else would Ela agree to spend time alone with?"

"Um, Eliza." Monika hated that she had to break the news to her. "Meghan didn't take Ela out on a date, Jack did."

Eliza sat up in surprise. "What!"

"Jack asked Ela out, Meghan was hanging out with that weird girl at that coffee place." Monika explained. "I saw her come back right before we started our little session."

"What the hell?!" Eliza immediately got up and walked to the door.

"Where are you going?"

"I'm going to talk to her and ask her why she let Jack of all people take her girl."

"Ela already agreed to the date, what good is yelling at Meghan going to do now?"

"I don't know but apparently I need to help that dumb blonde take what's hers while she still has a small chance." With that, Eliza opened the door and stormed out.

Monika simply stared at the door and waited a few seconds for what was bound to happen.

"COHEN, WHAT THE HELL?!" Mike's voice could be heard through the walls.

A few seconds later, the door flung open and Eliza stepped back inside, her face as red as her hair. "Babe, could you hand me my clothes?"

Monika had already gathered her girlfriend's shirt and jeans and threw them at her. "Hurry up, I can't sleep without my pillow."

Eliza quickly got dressed and opened the door again. "I won't be long." She then blew Monika a kiss as she left again.

Monika simply rolled her eyes and laid back down on the bed. "I really am in love with an idiot."

* * *

It was almost midnight when Ela and Jack made it back to the barracks. The rest of the date hadn't gone much better, now they were walking in awkward silence. At least, Ela thought it was awkward, Jack seemed to think the date went well. Ironic that he was able to pick up on everything except the fact that this had been one the most uncomfortable experiences in years for Ela. At least he was kind enough to walk her to her room.

"I think tonight went well." Jack said.

"It was… a new experience for me." She responded, trying to be polite.

"Maybe we can do it again sometime?"

"Um…"

Next thing she knew, he was leaning in, clearly going for a kiss. She immediately put her hands up and stopped him. Now she had no choice but to be honest.

"Look, Jack. You're a good friend, but I think that's all we should ever be."

She could see the disappointment in his face, but still only responded with. "I understand."

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be." With that, he turned and walked away.

* * *

Author's note: I think we've all been on awkward date's, throw in the people from Rainbow Six and things will definitely get weird. As always, hope you enjoyed and feel free to leave a review. Also, Valkyrie elite skinIQ elite skin, you can't change my mind. Until next time.


	11. Chapter 10

Author's note: WARNING: This story now has it's first lewd scene, if you do not wish to read, skip the segment between the FIRST AND SECOND line breaks. You have been warned. The rest of you pervs, enjoy.

* * *

What Will It Take?

Chapter 10

* * *

Meghan stepped out of the shower, feeling refreshed. She put on her pajamas, which consisted of a pair of short shorts and a tank top, ready to relax in her bed, not looking forward to most likely failing the course again tomorrow. At least, she could get a good night's rest.

Suddenly there three loud knocks on her door. "Hey dumbass, open up."

"Well, there goes that plan." Meghan thought. She walked over to the door and opened it.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Eliza asked as she stormed inside.

"Sure Eliza, you can come in, by the way, it's nice to see you too."

"Do you even know that Jack took Ela out on a date?"

"Yes, I'm aware, and I'm very happy for them." Meghan replied calmly.

"You're a shitty liar."

"I'm not lying."

"So, you aren't bothered that they're dating?"

"No."

"Even though they were making out in the lounge?"

"They what?" Meghan asked before she could stop herself. "I mean…damnit."

"I knew it." Eliza said in triumph. "By the way, I made that last part up, I just needed you to admit it does bother you."

"Alright." Meghan relented. "I'll admit, I'm not thrilled at the idea of Ela being with Jack."

"Because she should be with you."

"I didn't say that."

"You didn't have to."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"We can all tell you like her, especially after Monika found you in her room."

"Look, that wasn't what you guys think it was."

"Then what was it?"

"She was going through a rough time, and she needed someone to comfort her."

"So, you're saying that if Mike was having a rough time, you would spend the night cuddling with him?"

"God, no."

"See, Ela has a special place in your heart."

"That doesn't mean I have a thing for her." By now, Meghan was getting tired of this argument.

"You can say that all you want, I can tell otherwise."

"Oh really, how so?" Meghan asked sarcastically.

"Because you look at her the same way I looked at Monika before we dated." Eliza explained. "You're always concerned, and always protective of her. Even when she shut you out, you still waited patiently for her to trust you, and now she trusts you more than anyone one on the team."

"That doesn't mean I have a romantic interest in her."

"It means that you're willing to put in the effort."

"Why are we even talking about this, what goes on between her and I is none of your or anyone else's business."

"I'm looking out for my best friend, and I'm telling you she is a great catch for you."

"Why is everyone obsessed with my dating life?!" Meghan was now getting frustrated. "Why does everyone care who I date or whether or not I date anybody?"

"Because you're not happy Meghan!"

Meghan wasn't sure how to respond to that. "What are you talking about?"

"We've all seen it over the past few months, you keep this strong, confident look on you all day, but we can all tell, deep down, you are not happy. Ela makes you happy."

"What do you mean by that?"

"Remember when she got hurt, and you thought it was your fault because you were reckless?"

Meghan recalled that day. "What about it?"

"I know why you acted like that, you two were having fun." Eliza elaborated. "She was having a good time and you joined in. Right before she pushed you out of the way, you took me out. Well, you got me because I hesitated, do you know why?"

"Why?"

"I saw you smiling, a genuine smile. Something that I haven't seen you do in a long time. You weren't obsessed with assessing the situation, calculating risks, or getting your timing right, you were having fun. That was because of her, and no one has had that same effect on you since we've known each other."

Meghan was at a loss for words, she was confused and frustrated and didn't know what to make of what Eliza had just told her. "Get out."

"Meghan-

"Eliza please, for once just do what I say and leave me alone!"

Eliza seemed to get the message and said nothing more as she left the room, leaving Meghan alone with her thoughts. She laid down on her bed, she had planned on going to sleep, but that plan was out the window now that her thoughts were spinning, mostly because she couldn't figure out why she had snapped like that. As annoying as Eliza could be, Meghan knew that yelling at her like that was completely uncalled for. Looking back, she noticed that she had been snapping a lot at people lately, she was always used to being calm and collected, now she had been quick to anger several times in the past several days, every instance had involved Ela.

"Ela…" Meghan whispered out loud as her thoughts switched to the Polish girl.

For some reason, a lot of people on the team seemed to think that Meghan had romantic feelings for the new girl with green hair. She began reflecting on the interactions the two of them had since Ela arrived at Hereford, introducing her to the team, helping her when she was hurt, she even introduced her to Lena. Most of the operators knew of the hyperactive girl, but Ela was the only one who Meghan took to see personally.

After thinking on it for a few minutes, Meghan realized that to a bystander, it could seem like there was something going on between them. But there wasn't, they were just friends, right? Was she even attracted to Ela? According to Eliza, she made the SEAL happy, was Meghan truly unhappy? Strangely enough, her mother asked her about it just the week before, and even then, she had trouble answering the question.

Meghan let out a frustrated groan, there were to many questions she had no answer to. She tried to close her eyes and go to sleep, to no avail. Her thoughts kept roaming back to Ela, they had spent a lot of time together, more than Meghan had with any other operator when they first joined. Taking her out for coffee, spending the night with her when she needed a friend, making breakfast for the team, seeing her naked.

…

* * *

Meghan's cheeks turned bright red, that's not where her mind needed to be right now.

Or was it?

Meghan's thoughts once again went back to the image of Ela's naked body. She had only stared for a couple seconds, but it was enough to capture every detail of the Polish beauty. Her pale skin, her B cup sized breasts, her wide hips, the fact that she had just showered and was still soaking wet, if only she had kept staring after she had turned around to get a view of her-

Meghan gasped and opened her eyes, she looked down and realized she had absentmindedly started rubbing herself through her shorts. She knew she shouldn't, but the heat was already building up between her legs. It was too late, she needed some relief, and this was the only way she would get it right now.

She continued to rub the sweet spot between her legs through her shorts. It honestly felt amazing, Taina was right, she needed a release, the last time Meghan having done anything sexual, alone or with someone else was when they had slept together a year ago.

By now Meghan was very worked up, she had begun to soak through her panties and her shorts. She decided to slide them both off her legs and simply threw them aside, she would have to wash them later anyway. Now that the obstructions were gone she could get back to work, she closed her eyes and went back to sweet image of Ela's naked body. Was she a horrible person for imagining her friend like this? Probably, but right now she didn't care.

Her right hand made its way back down to her pussy, which was getting wetter. Her fingers finding her clit, slowly began rubbing circles around the sensitive spot. The sensation was amazing, sending waves of pleasure through her body. She couldn't control the soft moans that came out of her, as she began to rub a little faster. Now her imagination was going a little more wild, she wondered what Ela would be like in bed, what sounds would she make? What would she let Meghan do to her?

Now she was really worked up, she stopped rubbing and slowly inserted a finger inside. She moaned even louder as she began to move her hand back and forth. At first, she moved slowly, then she started fingering herself at a much more rapid pace.

She began to imagine herself and Ela in bed together, what would she feel like? Her hands running along Ela's smooth skin. The feeling of her soft breasts. Her lips pressed against her own.

Her free hand reached under her tank top and grabbed her left breast, gently squeezing and pinching her nipple adding to the ecstasy. The amount of pleasure she was feeling was incredible as she inserted another finger into herself, by now her whole hand was wet. She began thrusting even faster, she was now writhing from the pleasure, knowing she was close.

She then imagined Ela doing this to her, if it were her hands instead of her own touching her this way. How would Ela's tongue feel licking at her center? How would Ela taste if Meghan were to go down on her? She imagined Ela writhing in pleasure and moaning her name while she tasted her sweet nectar. The mental image was enough to finally send Meghan over the edge.

"Ela!" She let out one final moan as her walls tightened around her fingers as one final wave of pleasure hit her. She couldn't control her body, her back arched and her hips bucked several times. Her whole body spasmed as she came hard all over her hand and even onto her bed. She kept moving her fingers inside herself, so she could ride out her orgasm even longer.

After about a minute, she finally came down from her pleasure high. Her breathing was heavy, her body even built up a small sweat. She removed her hand and looked at her cum coated fingers. She was partially disgusted with herself, but now she felt like she could finally fall asleep.

Maybe after another shower.

* * *

"How much longer are they gonna keep us out here?"

"Seriously dude, about the complaining…"

Norman and Irvin were still at their post, now that they had discovered the enemy base, they had carried out part two of their mission, observing the theme park.

"I mean, we already found the place, what else do they want?"

"We've been over this, we need to update command just in case anything changes."

"It's been almost two weeks and nothing's changed."

"So, we have nothing to report to command. Now shut up before someone hears us."

"I'm just so bored."

Norman didn't respond, he only continued to look through his binoculars.

"What? No snappy remark?"

…

"Norman?"

"I think I found a cure for your boredom."

Irvin grabbed his own pair of binoculars and looked over at the park. After focusing the lenses, he noticed a large cargo truck pulling up to the enemy base.

"Now what do we have here?" Irvin asked.

Once the truck finished pulling up to the building, the two rear doors opened up, but due to the angle the two men were unable to see what was inside. After a few moments, the ramp began to extend. Immediately, several White Mask members stepped inside, presumably to offload whatever cargo it held.

"Let's see what's behind door number one."

After a minute, they began to step back out, they were offloading two very large boxes, each requiring four men to move. The two observers noticed that the terrorists started to celebrate upon seeing the crates.

"What do you think is inside the mystery boxes?" Norman asked.

"Hmm, maybe it's just some supplies." Irvin guessed.

"We've seen them drop off supplies before, never in boxes like those."

"Maybe some guns?"

"They already have a lot of guns, why would they be celebrating a few more?"

"I don't know man, maybe they're celebrating their new porta potties."

"Hang on, it looks like their opening them."

They observed a couple men wielding crowbars begin to open the two wooden crates. After a few moments of prying, the front panel to each box fell and they were finally able to see what was inside. Both observers were then filled with a sense of dread.

"Oh fuck."

"This is bad." Norman immediately put down his binoculars and grabbed the handset to his radio. "HQ, this is Orchid one, we have a problem here."

* * *

Eliza was back in her room grabbing a fresh set of cloths, getting ready for another day of running the theme park course, and probably failing at it, again. It didn't bother her though, she had finally patched things up with her girlfriend and it felt great, not even today's training could ruin her mood. She had just changed her outfit when there was a knock on her door, she walked over and answered it, not surprised to see none other than Meghan Castellano.

"Meghan, good morning." Eliza greeted.

"Hey." Meghan said, quietly. "Can I come in?"

"Sure."

Meghan walked in and took a seat, Eliza sat on her bed, waiting to see what Meghan wanted talk about. For a while, Meghan didn't say anything, she just patted her knees, wondering how to start the conversation. Finally, she decided just to come out and say it, albeit very quietly. "You were right."

"What was that?" Eliza asked with a smile.

Meghan sighed in defeat. "You were right." She said louder. "All of you were right. I like Ela, a lot."

"Hmm."

"Eliza please, I don't want to hear 'I told you so'."

"I know, but I want to say it so bad." Eliza's smile grew even wider. "Can I just say it one time and you cover your ears?"

Without saying anything, Meghan put her hands over her ears.

"I told you so!"

"Well, I'm glad you feel better."

"I do a little, but I feel like I could feel even better if you heard it."

Meghan smiled at her friend's antics. "Well, what now?"

"What do you mean, what now?" Eliza asked in confusion.

"I mean, what do I do now?"

"You idiot, you go and confess your love for her and claim you girl."

"Yeah one problem with that." Meghan explained. "She's with Jack."

"Oh please, you two have always had a connection, just tell her how you feel, and she'll be all yours."

"But that's not fair to Jack, he beat me to her, I let her get away. I don't even know if she likes girls either."

"You're really going to put Jack before yourself?"

"Yes, I've had boyfriends stolen from me before, it feels horrible, I won't do that to anyone else."

Eliza thought for a moment. "Well yeah, but its Jack. How long do you think that will last?"

"And when that happens, I will make a move, until then, I just have to accept that she's happy with someone else."

"You really are too good of a person, I never thought I'd have to say that as an insult." Eliza said. "Do you know how I got Monika to go out with me?"

"I don't know, and I really don't want to know."

"It all started with-

A sudden knock at the door interrupted her, she walked over and opened it to see Mike standing in front of her with his back turned.

"Mike, what's up?"

"Are you dressed?"

Eliza sighed. "Yes, its safe to turn around."

He turned to face her. "Great. Anyway, meetings now going at ten-o'clock, spread the word."

Eliza and Meghan looked at him in confusion.

"But we always start at noon." Meghan said.

"Not sure why it got changed but it came directly from Six, so it must be urgent."

"Ugh, fiiine." Eliza responded.

"Don't be late." He said as he walked off.

"What was that about you being dressed?"

"Don't ask."

* * *

Ela sat in one of the corner seats of the briefing room, trying to keep herself awake. After her awkward date with Jack, she couldn't fall asleep and she didn't quite know why. Perhaps she was worried that she wouldn't be able to find the right person, she really didn't even know how to look for the right person. On top of that, there was also the fact that they had yet to complete this theme park course, and the fact that she had no idea how to approach Isaac, or whether or not to approach him at all. She had an entire list of problems that she didn't know how to solve, and it was eating away at her. She was too lost in thought that she didn't notice someone take a seat right next to her.

"Hey Ela." It was Jack.

Ela internally groaned, she really didn't want to sit with anyone at the moment, especially him. "Hey Jack, I'm sorry but I'm really not interested."

"I know, but you said we could still be friends, right?"

He wasn't wrong, but still Ela wasn't in the mood for his company. "I guess so."

She then noticed a familiar patch of blonde hair enter the room, it was Meghan. She actually wouldn't mind talking with her, it had been a while since the two had spent time together. Unfortunately, just as she was about to wave her over, the blonde turned around and went to sit on the other side of the room, much to Ela's disappointment. Much to her annoyance, Jack tried to begin a conversation with her about their date the night before.

* * *

Meghan walked into the meeting room wondering what the brief was going to be about. One of the first things she noticed was Ela sitting in the corner, with Jack. The sight disheartened her to the point where she turned away and sat with Eliza and a few other team members. Every now and then she couldn't help but glance over at her crush.

"You should just tell her how you feel."

Meghan jumped at the surprise voice behind her. She turned around to see Taina staring at her. "Where do you keep coming from?"

"I like to surprise people, it's kind of my thing." Taina smiled. "Now are you going tell her or not?"

"I can't, she's with him now."

"Even after your little practice session last night?"

"You were spying on me?!"

"I live in the room next to you sweetheart, you weren't exactly being quiet."

Meghan's face turned red. "Please don't tell anybody."

"Don't worry."

"Thanks."

"Also, if you ever need any 'help' with that, I'm more than willing-

"No!"

"Everyone quiet down, the brief is about to begin." Once again, the lights dimmed as Six and her advisors entered the room.

Isaac stepped forward as the projector turned on. "Ladies and gentlemen, I understand that this meeting was short notice, but we now have a matter of utmost urgency." He explained. "Last night, my scout team noticed an increase in activity coming from the theme park, upon closer investigation, they discovered this." The screen displayed what was clearly two very large bombs, surrounded by a lot of White Masks.

"What the hell are those?" Eliza asked.

"Class A chemical explosives." Isaac explained. "Though not nuclear by any means, each one is capable of leveling and entire city block, and they now have two of them."

"How on earth did they manage to get a hold of them?" Meghan asked.

"We're not entirely sure." He answered. "Normally, these types of explosives are used in large scale mining excavations. The manufacturer of the explosives reported the two explosives missing about a week ago."

"How on earth did they go missing? How do you lose not one, but two explosives of that scale?" Marius questioned.

"They were lost in transit, but it goes even further than that. In order to avoid accidents and theft, the company that manufactures the explosives ships them out disassembled into three different parts, on three different shipping routes, on three different dates. That's six pieces total, all six were accounted for when their respective ship departed, and all six were gone by the time they arrived."

The room went quiet as everyone tried to wrap their heads around the mystery.

"Look, right now it doesn't matter how the White Masks got these devices." Six explained. "What matters now, is the fact that they have them and they are more than willing to use them. In addition to that, we are also shorter on time, we have no idea when they plan to utilize these weapons of destruction or when they intend to ship them to intended targets. We must put a stop to them while we know where they are being kept."

Everyone agreed. "Does that mean we are leaving earlier than scheduled ma'am." Mike asked.

"That's exactly what that means, by about 10 days, since we still have training to do."

"But ma'am, we have yet to successfully run the practice course, will we be ready with less time?" Gustave worried.

"I believe so, our mission has now changed from liberation to bomb defusal, and on that note, I have approved IQ's idea of increasing the team size and have formulated a new strategy for how we will execute this mission."

Everyone's eyes were glued to the screen as the listened to Six's new plan, taking in every detail, listening to every word. One thing was universally understood by all of them, things were now way more intense, and the stakes were about to get much higher.

* * *

Author's note: Ever since this story was merely a thought bubble in my head, I've debated whether or not I would be adding any sexual scenes. I finally decided to go for it, if anything just to test my writing abilities. So those of you who read it tell me what you think, if I should add more, or would the story flow better with out it. Also, it seems no one caught the easter egg in the last chapter, and I give you props if you find this one. As always, hope you enjoyed and feel free to leave a review. Until next time.


	12. Chapter 11

Author's note: Here's the next chapter. Hope it's worth the wait. Enjoy.

* * *

What Will It Take?

Chapter 11

* * *

"You must locate the bombs." Came the voice over the radio. "Insertion in forty-five seconds."

Every operator was glued to their phones to the point where one would think they were a bunch of teenage high schoolers. But they were most definitely not checking social media, everyone was controlling their drone, trying to locate one of the explosives.

"Thirty seconds to insertion."

On their screens, the operators were finding a lot of enemy fighters, but no sign of the explosives in question.

"Fifteen seconds to insertion."

"Found one, office room!" Meghan reported.

"Five seconds."

Everyone put there phones away as they felt the van come to a stop.

"Bombs located operation is a go, use your defusers to disarm the bombs."

"You heard the man, lets go." Meghan ordered as all seven operators disembarked from the van.

Yes, they were now working in a team of seven. That wasn't all, there were now three teams of seven attacking the park simultaneously. Meghan's team had been dropped off via police van at the main entrance, another team had hopped over a wall next to the teacup ride, and the final team attacked from the beach side behind the bumper cars. Meghan was leading her team, which consisted of herself, Ela, Jack, Alexsandr, Eliza, Siu, and Vicente. They were tasked with disarming the bomb on the second floor, which was discovered to be in the main office. Another team was assigned to the second bomb on the first floor, the third team was tasked with clearing any additional enemy forces but carried a third defuser just in case.

"Contact, front!" Meghan yelled as they moved through the main gate.

Unlike previous operations, enemies were posted outside of the building, they immediately began shooting as they saw the team roll up. All seven team members began returning fire, even scoring a few kills in the process.

"Keep up the fire, we need to go through that door!" Meghan commanded. Just then, more combatants poured out of the very entrance she was talking about.

"There's to many of them guarding it. We're going to have to find another way." Vicente reported. He and Siu managed to provide a large volume of fire with their LMG's, but the number of enemies was too much to advance.

"Damnit hold on, I'll see what we can do." Meghan looked around and noticed a staircase on the left side of the building. "That way, everyone get up that staircase."

The team moved to the stairs, managing to dodge the hail of bullets in the process, upon reaching the top, they saw a window and a door both boarded up. Vicente broke open a part of the window barricade and peered inside, a small burst was then fired from his M249 killing two enemies. Meanwhile, Jack had his sensor up to the door.

"Three inside." He reported.

"We got this." Eliza placed a breach charge on the door, once everyone was clear, she blew it and the two FBI operatives stormed inside. A few bursts of gunfire were heard and all three enemies inside were put down. "Room clear!" Eliza reported.

The rest of the team made their way inside the room, watching the open door that lead further inside the building.

Suddenly Vicente reported from his position "Eliza, a few of them ran into that daycare across from you, the wall is not reinforced."

Eliza pulled out her CREM, "Siu, with me." The two approached the wall and Eliza fired a round into the center. As soon as it exploded, Siu tossed in a candela, disorienting and blinding those who were inside. The team made quick work of the enemies inside.

They moved down the hallway, and upon reaching the end, they were stopped in their tracks by even more enemies. They were in three separate group taking fighting positions in three broken down rail cars.

"We have to get across, the bomb is just on the other side." Said Jack.

"I've got this one." Vicente pulled out his crossbow and took aim. He sent a bolt into the window of the middle car, which immediately burst into flames, causing the unfortunate souls inside to cry out as they burned to death. He then took aim at the right car and fired, providing similar results.

"So you CAN get kills with that thing." Eliza jabbed.

"You want to be the next one?" He responded.

"I would love to, but your out of fire arrows."

"Focus!" Meghan ordered.

"What do we do about the last car?" Alexsandr asked.

"I got it." Meghan said. She pulled out her nitro cell and threw it across, landing right inside the last car. She pulled out her cellphone and pressed the call button, causing the explosive to detonate. "We're clear, move up."

The seven of them moved up the room where the bomb was being held. Three of them gathered at the boarded window, the other four by the unreinforced wall. Siu placed a breach charge on the window while Eliza readied her CREM. Before they breached, Siu placed another candela on the window barricade, after a few seconds, the pops could be heard of the blinding flashes, followed by two explosions as the team breached the room. Meghan looked in the window, seeing a man blinded and disoriented from the chaos, she immediately fired her SPAS-12 into his chest. After putting him down, she hopped through the window, shooting another combatant behind the desk. The rest of the team each put down another enemy fighter as they also stormed in.

"We're clear." Meghan reported. "Ela, start the defuser."

Ela nodded as she opened up the case and punched in the code.

As soon as she was done, the defuser started beeping and once again a voice came over the radio. "Defuser has been activated, defend it." After a few seconds, his voice was back. "Be advised, a large wave of enemies is heading to your position."

"You heard him, set up defenses." Meghan ordered.

Everyone began getting ready, Ela placed a grzmot at each entrance, Meghan placed her cameras throughout the area, and Alexzandr set up his DP-28 in the middle of the room.

"Damn, he wasn't kidding, I'm counting at least thirty tangos." Meghan said as she checked her cameras.

"How the hell are we going to take on that many enemies." Jack asked.

"Just leave it to Tachanka." Alexsandr spoke up as he pulled back the charging handle on his gun. The explosions of the grzmot mines indicated that the enemy was upon them. "Come to Tachanka baby!"

"Ah crap!" Eliza shouted.

"What does he mean by-

"Get down!" Eliza practically tackled the Chinese woman to the ground.

Jack did the same to Ela, who also did not understand what was about to happen, albeit more gently. Meghan and Vicente dropped to the ground as well.

Just as the enemies began rushing in the room, the soviet national anthem once again began playing seemingly out of nowhere. It was then followed by the sound of machine gun bullets. The Russian man was firing wildly into the crowd of targets as they attempted to swarm the team. Bullets were flying everywhere, some barely making it over his team mates heads. Enemy after enemy dropped to the ground leaving a lot of dead bodies, and they all looked surprised. Just moments after it started, it was over, all enemies were killed. Once they made sure the chaos had subsided, the rest of the team stood back up.

"How does he do that?" Siu asked.

"We don't know, and at this point we don't question it?" Jack answered.

"The defuser only needs a few more seconds, we've got this!" Meghan excitingly pointed out. "I don't think there's any more tangos either. We did it!"

Suddenly there were five distinct pops from one of the side walls. The team turned to see what looked like five hockey pucks landing on the floor.

"Scramble!" Jack shouted as they all ran for their lives. Meghan and Siu jumped out of the window, Ela and Jack ran through the hole in the wall, while Eliza and Vicente left through the door. Alexsandr stayed where he was. The room was then rocked by five explosions.

Once the smoke had cleared they rest of the team came back inside just in time to see the defuser finish doing its job, signaling that their part was done.

"One bomb defused." Came the voice over the radio. Now they just had to hope one of the other teams could defuse the other one.

To everyone's surprise, Alexsandr was still standing right where he was at his machine gun.

"Um, Alex, I know its just a simulation, but you're still supposed to go down when your hit." Eliza pointed out.

"Do you see any paint on Tachanka?" He responded, and to everyone's shock, he was untouched by the misplaced cluster charge.

"How?" Meghan asked in astonishment.

"Tachanka does not die, if he does not feel like it." Was his response.

Before they could question him further, the voice came over the radio again. "Second bomb defused, mission successful!"

Everyone began cheering, after so many failed attempts, they had finally completed the course. Even though it was only a simulation, it was still a major obstacle they had managed to overcome, and that deserved some celebration.

"Good work, terminating comms, Kowalski signing off."

* * *

"What do you mean you have nothing? I thought you could 'find anything or anyone'." Isaac asked.

"It's only been two day's man, give me a break." McConnell answered. "I'm having my team interviewing everyone they can, turning over every stone, dusting for every finger print, but this shit won't just happen overnight."

"It hasn't been overnight, it's been two."

"Okay smartass, look. I'm going to put this in perspective for you." McConnell brought up his notes. "We know both bombs were destined for Taiwan." He brought up a map of the Pacific Ocean. "Now, as you said, the bombs are broken into three pieces and put on different ships, with an additional security measure of those ships departing twenty-four hours apart." He then pulled up a calendar. "As you can see, the first bomb left on the first, second and third of the month. The second left on the seventh, eighth and ninth. And we know they were on board because company policy requires a high-ranking official to physically see that the part is there, and once that happens, nothing and no one is allowed on or off the ship." He continued through his notes. "Now fast forward to the fourteenth, the first ship arrives at its destination and lo and behold, the piece is missing. At that point, a call goes out to every ship out there to verify that their piece is still on board their ships. That's when it's discovered that five other pieces are missing as well, even though the other five ships are still out at sea." He concluded.

Isaac took in the information given to him. "So, what are you saying?"

"I'm saying these guys are getting smarter, man!" McConnell stated. "Bigger too. It's not like when they first came around a couple years ago where they were small in number and every one of them was dumb as a rock, they're not like Antifa, or BAMN. These guys are getting smarter by the day and they're recruiting more people into their ranks, the amount of people and coordination that it would have taken to pull off this heist rivals anything we could have done."

Isaac took in the information he was given. It was true, unlike other terror organizations, The White Masks were only getting stronger as time went on.

McConnell's phone buzzed, signaling that he had received a message from his one of his team members. He unlocked his phone and took a moment to read it. "Oh shit."

"What is it?"

"Remember that official I told you about?"

"Yeah."

"No one has seen him since the bombs went missing."

"Kidnapping?"

"No, they just checked his house, it's been cleaned out, like he wanted to leave in a hurry."

"So, he's a runaway."

"Yeah."

"Interesting, now what was he running from…or running to?"

"That's not the only thing." He showed Isaac the profile picture of the man in question.

"…Peterson."

* * *

"Cheers, to a job well done." Mike said as everyone clanked their drinks together.

The two other practice runs that day were just as successful as the first. Now team Rainbow was celebrating the way they always celebrated, with lots of alcohol. Luckily, things were fairly tame, at least by their standards, since they would have to run the course again tomorrow.

Ela was sitting by herself, reflecting on the days events. She was glad that they had successfully run the theme park course, but the problem of dealing with her former team was still eating away at her.

"Care for a drink?"

She turned to see Jack, carrying two beer bottles and offering one to her. "Sure." She smiled. After their date had gone wrong, things were awkward between the two initially. However, after a couple days of talking it out, things had gone back to normal as they agreed to stay friends. Jack was a good person, just a horrible date.

"Good work today." He complimented

"You didn't do so bad yourself."

Across the room, Meghan couldn't take her eyes off the Polish girl, which was ironic since seeing her with someone else hurt to watch. It seemed Eliza was wrong, Ela's relationship with Jack was lasting, and she seemed to be happy by the look of it.

"You could have killed us all!"

Meghan turned to face the other problem that she was currently having. Ever since practice had ended, Siu and Shuhrat hadn't stopped arguing over the cluster charge that almost took them all out. Now, Meghan and Eliza had been taking turns playing referee and standing between the two, currently it was Eliza's turn making sure they didn't kill each other for real.

"Guys, this is a celebration, can we just calm down?" Eliza asked trying to mitigate the tension.

"Not until someone puts this guy on a leash." Siu said.

"It was an honest mistake." Shuhrat defended.

"Honest mistake?! You knew we were in the room!"

"There could have been enemies still in there."

"We shouted that the room was clear!"

"Guys come on." Eliza whined. "This is a time for celebration, now either agree to work together or stay away from each other."

The two looked at one another, without saying anything, both turned and left. Siu went back to her room, while Shuhrat went back to drinking with his fellow Spetsnaz. Eliza sat back down with Meghan, letting out a frustrated sigh.

"Those two are going to be a handful." Meghan commented.

"Yeah." Eliza turned to see that Monika had sat down with Ela and Jack at their table. She wanted to go sit with her, but she didn't want to leave Meghan behind. "Um, I'm going to sit with Monika, want to join us?"

Meghan looked over and saw who Eliza's girlfriend was sitting with. "No thanks, I'm good here." She didn't think she'd be able to handle being around Ela while she was with her boyfriend.

"You want me to stay here with you?"

"No, really I'm fine. Go spend time with her."

Eliza gave her friend a smile before walking off. Meghan was left alone to her thoughts.

Eliza walked up to her girlfriend and took a seat next her. "Evening beautiful."

"Hello there." Monika greeted.

"Hey guys." Eliza said to Jack and Ela.

"Hey Liza." Jack greeted. "Good work today."

"You too."

The four of them made small talk for a while. After a few minutes, the group noticed a familiar figure walked into the room.

"Is that Captain Isaac?" Monika asked.

Everyone watched as the tall man had in fact entered the lounge. "Wow, I don't think I've ever seen him in the barracks before." Jack observed.

"Maybe he wants to celebrate too." Eliza suggested.

"I doubt it. He never celebrates anything, not even when we succeed on actual missions." Jack added. "What do you think Ela?"

They all turned to see Ela's seat empty.

"Where on earth did she disappear off to?" Eliza asked.

"I don't know. Like I said, she's been acting strange every time the captain shows up." Monika answered.

"I wonder why that is."

"I'm not sure, Jack has she said anything to you since you two have been together?"

"Wait, what?" Jack asked, confused.

"I figured since you two are dating, maybe she mentioned something about the captain that's bothering her."

"Uh, one, she hasn't said anything, and two, we're not together. We went on one date, but we decided to stay friends."

"Oh, my mistake, we thought the two of you were a couple."

Eliza needed a moment to take in what she just heard, this whole time everyone thought Jack and Ela were dating and they were completely wrong. Come to think of it, that happened a lot in Rainbow. At the beginning when the team first formed, everyone thought Elias and Monika were dating. At one point, it was believed that Maxim and Tina were together. There were rumors that Emma and Julian were a couple, that proved false, albeit not from lack of trying from Julian. There was even a time when people thought Mike and Mark were romantically involved, that rumor was quickly killed, thank goodness.

"Eliza, you okay?"

"What?" Eliza snapped out of her reverie.

"You spaced out there for a minute." Monika said.

"Oh, sorry." She got up from her seat. "If you'll excuse me I uh, have to…take care of…a…thing." She then turned and ran.

"Why is everyone acting so weird?" Jack asked.

Meghan was on her third drink when a ball of red hair crashed into her. "Nice to see you too Eliza."

"Sorry, I think the alcohol is finally hitting me." She apologized. "Anyway, you have to go see Ela right now, I think she went to her room."

"Why, what for?"

"So you can confess how you feel."

"We've been over this, I can't as long as she's with Jack."

Eliza grabbed Meghan by the shoulders. "Ela isn't with Jack you dumb blonde."

"What?"

"We just talked with Jack." Eliza explained. "He told us that after they went on their date, they decided it would be best for them to stay friends."

Meghan couldn't believe what she just heard. "So you mean…"

"She's all yours!" Eliza shouted. "Now go get her."

"But what do I say?"

"I'm sure you can figure it out." Eliza pushed Meghan towards the door.

"But what if she doesn't feel the same way?"

"Well, at least you can say you tried and you can move on."

"Wish me luck?"

"Good luck, idiot."

"Thanks." Meghan left the lounge with a smile on her face and made her way to a certain Polish girl's room.

She did her best to make herself look nice and presentable, although she was still in her combat wardrobe minus the combat vest. She was excited and nervous at the same time as she knocked on the door.

After a moment, the door cracked open and a set of blue eyes could be seen. "Meghan?"

"Hey." Meghan waved. "Can I come in?"

Ela considered what to say. "Only if I can talk to you about something."

"Of course, I actually want to talk to you about something as well."

Ela opened the door fully allowing Meghan into her room. Only then did Meghan notice the look on Ela's face, a mixture of distraught and confusion, she also looked like she was holding back tears.

"What's wrong?" Meghan asked.

Ela crossed her arms and began pacing back and forth, unsure of how to begin. "Promise that you'll keep this between us."

"I promise." Meghan assured.

Ela took a deep breath. "Remember my old team I told you about? When I got half of them killed."

"I remember you mentioning them, but you never really went into much detail."

"Well, here's a little more detail." Ela handed Meghan an old photo, twelve figures were present, one of which was clearly herself. "Notice anyone familiar, other than me?"

Meghan immediately noticed several familiar faces, she couldn't contain her surprise as she realized the situation Ela was in. "My god."

"Isaac, Kowalski, Irvin, Norman and McConnell. All my former team mates."

Meghan looked at the remaining faces in the photo. "And the others, they're…"

"Gone." Ela finished her sentence. "Because of my mistake."

Meghan was now curious about Ela's former team. "What were their names?"

Ela looked back at the photograph and pointed to the first face. "That's Nelson, our squad leader, he was a natural soldier, and a good friend, respected by everyone who met him." She pointed to the next person. "Daniels, the youngest member, full of energy and spirit, he always had a smile on his face." The next two. "Jacobson and Stevens, those two were best friends and a couple of clowns. They would always be cracking jokes and playing around even during the most inappropriate times." The next face. "West, a hard charger, and a huge asshole. Those traits made him one of the toughest fighters you could encounter."

Meghan watched as tears began to well up in the Polish girl's eye's. She hated making Ela relive these memories, but she felt like letting it out may help her. She noticed one more face in the picture. "Who's that?"

Ela looked at the final team member. "That's Peterson, we never saw eye to eye, and we would often clash. He survived that day; however, I have no idea what became of him."

"Would the others know?" Meghan asked.

"There lies the problem." Ela answered. "I haven't spoken with any of them since I terminated my contract. I completely cut ties with them and haven't seen or heard from in ten years." By now, tears were flowing down her face and she began pacing back and forth again. "I don't know what to say, or how to even approach them. How do I know they even want to talk to me…they probably hate me."

Meghan wrapped her arms around her friend, if only to stop her pacing which seemed like she was about to have a panic attack. Ela returned embrace and held on to her tight, she noticed the girl was trembling as well.

"I'm such a coward."

"No, you're not."

"What do I do?" She asked.

"You want to know my honest opinion?" Meghan asked.

"Yes. I'm so lost."

"I think you should talk with them." She knew Ela wouldn't be thrilled with the idea, so she explained. "I can't tell if they hate you or not, but I think it would be the best course of action."

"How so?"

"Well, it may not be painless, and it may not even end well, but all of you at least deserve closure, and that's the only way you all be able to get it."

Ela mulled over the idea for a bit. "I don't know if I can."

"I'll help you." Meghan offered.

Ela looked at her. "You're willing to help me through this?"

"Of course, I'm on good terms with all of them, maybe I could set up a little meeting with all of you." Meghan offered. "And I'll be with you the whole time, in case you need support. What do you think?"

Ela thought it wasn't a bad idea, however she was still nervous. "Can we do it after this operation? Then Norman and Irvin will be back."

"Sounds good to me."

"Thank you." Without thinking, Ela nuzzled the crook of Meghan's neck, causing the SEAL to blush.

"Don't mention it."

Ela looked at her watch and noticed it was getting late. "Do you want to stay the night again?" Ela asked, hesitantly.

Meghan hid her surprise, last time Ela invited her to stay the night in her room, she was drunk. Now, she was completely sober. "If you're okay with that."

"Of course I am."

The two of them removed their shoes and jackets, Meghan turned off the lights as they both laid down on Ela's bed. Meghan laid on her back and Ela wrapped an arm around her waist and laid her head on Meghan's shoulder, the SEAL wrapped both of her arms around the polish girl. For a few minutes, neither said anything, simply enjoying each other's company.

"Thank you, Meghan." Ela whispered. "For everything."

"It's my pleasure."

"I've…missed you."

"I missed you too."

"What was it that you wanted to talk about?"

"I…" Meghan thought hard about what she was going to say, then realization hit her. "Uh, never mind, don't worry about it. Just get some sleep."

"Okay then," Ela said. "goodnight."

"Goodnight, Ela."

It only took a few minutes for the Polish girl to fall asleep. Unfortunately for Meghan, sleep did not come so easily. Her mind was racing from everything that she had learned about Ela, and now she agreed to help her reunite with her old friends, she had to figure out a way to make that happen and without it turning messy. And the worst part, she was unable to tell the girl her true feelings. She laid there with her thoughts, wondering what the future held for the two of them.

* * *

Author's note: After re reading this story, I wanted to give a little more depth to my fallen OC's so they are no longer just name's on a list. Also, for those of you who thought Meghan and Ela were getting somewhere, I'm sorry, but trust me, I have everything planned out. As always, I hope you enjoyed and feel free to leave a review. Until next time.


	13. Chapter 12

Author's note: A small detail I missed, in game Ela is actually an inch taller than Meghan. In this story, Meghan is a few inches taller, I don't know why, I just find it more adorable that way. Anyway, here's the next chapter, enjoy.

* * *

What Will It Take?

Chapter 12

* * *

Meghan let out a yawn as she woke up. She immediately felt another person holding on to her. She looked down at the beautiful figure of Ela, who was still sound asleep. Oh how Meghan longed for something like this, being able to wake up next to the person she loved. But sadly, this wasn't the case, Ela only saw her as a friend and wasn't even aware of the blonde's feeling towards her. This honestly made waking up with the Polish beauty in her arms feel like torture, almost like she was being teased. She started running her fingers through the girl's green hair, slightly stirring the her and causing her to let out small moans. Meghan thought it was absolutely adorable, making her feel worse.

After a few minutes, Meghan felt like it was time to get out of bed. She carefully unwrapped Ela's arm from her, being carful not to wake the girl and got up from the bed. She began to put her shoes back on when she noticed something out of the corner of her eye. A book was sitting on the nightstand, it looked fairly old and worn, Meghan knew she probably shouldn't, but curiosity got the better of her. She picked it up and began flipping through the pages. She was surprised to see several well drawn sketches. Some were of maps, others were of battle strategies. Then she noticed pictures of several portraits of people were drawn as well.

Some pictures were of local people and places Ela had seen while overseas, local merchants, children playing in the street. Then she started recognizing drawings of the men she saw in Ela's photograph. The man named Nelson, standing in full battle gear. Jacobson and Stevens sitting in what appeared to be a dirt hole. Daniels appearing to stare into the scope of his rifle. Meghan smiled at the drawings, whenever Ela worked with her back during Orange Sky, she always seemed cold and distant, however Ela seemed like she was much closer with her former team. Maybe that's why she was so apprehensive about being close with people, she didn't want to come to care about someone only to lose them.

Meghan turned the page and nearly dropped the book. It was a drawing of her, with her shemagh and giving a friendly smile. She couldn't help but notice that Ela had only drawn pictures of people she seemed to like, so it appeared Craig was right, Ela did admire her. She closed the book and put it back on the nightstand how she found it. For a while she stared at green haired girl who was still sleeping, how she wanted to just tell her about how she felt, but sadly now was not the time.

Meghan realized that she should probably get ready for the day. She didn't want to just leave Ela without saying anything, so she grabbed a piece of paper and wrote down a quick note. She placed it on the side of the bed where she had been laying so Ela would be able to see it as soon as she woke up. She turned to leave when a sudden urge came over her. It probably wasn't the most appropriate idea, but she couldn't help it, she walked back over to the bed where Ela was sleeping and placed a soft kiss on the girl's temple. "I wish I could tell you everything." She whispered. "Maybe someday." She left the room before the pain in her heart became too much.

She walked downstairs to the first floor and was immediately greeted by a flash of red. "Hey!" Eliza greeted excitedly. She then dragged Meghan to her room down the hall.

"I saw you go into Ela's room last night." She was hopping with excitement. "How'd it go? What did she say? Did you get laid?" She eyed Meghan closely. "No, your hair is too neat for that to have happened, but what did she say?"

"You can calm down Eliza." Meghan responded with a disappointed tone. "I didn't even tell her."

All the happiness in Eliza's face disappeared. "What?! Why?"

"Now before you get mad at me, there's a good reason."

"Okay, and what would that be?"

"Well…I can't really say."

"You're not helping your case."

"Okay, look." Meghan explained. "I won't say too much. You know how we've been wondering what's been going on between Ela and the captain?"

"Yeah."

"Well, she told me what it was, and it's insane."

"Is she sleeping with him."

"God no!"

"Then what is it?"

"It's not my place to say, just understand, it's a big deal."

Eliza could see that Meghan was being serious and decided not to press the issue. "Okay, so what does that have to do with telling her how you feel?"

"How could I tell her?" Meghan answered. "What was I supposed to say? 'Hey sorry to hear about your decade long turmoil, by the way, want to go out with me?' as if she didn't have enough going on in her life right now."

"Decade long?" Eliza said, curious. "It's that bad?"

Meghan nodded. "You should have seen her Eliza, she was so broken and scared, I can't imagine what's going through her mind right now."

"Well, you're going to have to tell her eventually, otherwise you're only going to destroy yourself."

"I know, I know, and I plan on telling her eventually." Meghan reassured.

"Well how long is eventually?"

"Well, I told her that I would help her through this thing, I figured maybe after it's over and Blood Orchid is out of the way, maybe then might be a good time."

"You're helping her with this?" Eliza questioned

"Yes, I am."

"That's perfect, it'll help her realize that you're good for her as well, she'll be all for dating you after that!"

Meghan smiled at the idea. "Sometimes I feel like you're more obsessed with this than I am."

"Well of course I'm obsessed." Eliza put a hand on Meghan's shoulder. "You're a great person Meghan and you're my closest friend, I want to see you with someone that makes you happy because it's what you deserve, and Ela deserves someone who will always be there to care for her and won't let her down. And I know for a fact that person is you because you've never let any of us down."

Meghan felt like she was about to cry at the unexpected compliment, she wrapped her arms around Eliza. "Thank you."

"Don't mention it."

"Anyway, enough about me and Ela, how have you and Monika been? I could use some non-depressing news."

Eliza thought for a second. "Actually, can you keep a secret?"

Meghan was now curious. "Sure."

"You have to promise that you won't tell anyone until I'm ready."

"I promise."

"Pinky promise." Eliza held out her hand.

"What is this, the fifth grade?"

"PINKY PROMISE!"

Meghan let out a sigh as she hooked her pinky with Eliza's. "Pinky promise."

"Good." Eliza practically bounced over to her desk. She pulled a key out of her pocket and unlocked the top drawer. She dug through it and pulled out a small box. "What do you think?" She asked as she handed it to Meghan.

Meghan opened the box and was shocked by what was inside. A bright gold ring, with a one karat diamond in the middle, and a half karat diamond on each side. There were intricate markings lasered around the outside of the ring, each leading to an E and an M, it was absolutely beautiful. "Is this what I think it is?"

"Yes!" Eliza was practically jumping up and down.

"Oh my gosh!" Meghan hugged the red head. "This is amazing. When are you asking her?"

"After we get back from China."

"That's awesome, congratulations."

"Well, I wouldn't congratulate me yet, I don't even know if she's going to say yes."

Meghan gave her a serious look. "Eliza, what are you talking about? She's going to say yes, she crazy about you, she loves you more than anything."

"You really think so?"

"Everyone here knows so. You don't have anything to worry about."

"Thanks." Eliza looked at the ring and began to reminisce about all the time she had spent with the woman she loved and was looking forward to spending the rest of her life with her. "I love her so much."

"I'm happy for you two."

"Will you be my maid of honor?"

"I would love to."

"Great, oh I can't wait." Eliza checked her phone to find that she had a message from none other than Monika herself. "Speaking of Monika, she's making breakfast in the lounge, want to join us?"

"Sure."

"Okay." Eliza put the ring back in her desk drawer. "And remember, don't tell anyone, especially her."

"Of course." Meghan said. "I would never break a pinky promise."

The two laughed as they headed towards the lounge.

* * *

"The defuser just needs ten more seconds." Timur reported.

"Once again, looks like we got this in the bag." Eliza commented.

"Good work guys, as always." Meghan complimented.

As if on cue, five pops came from the wall each accompanied by a round explosive.

"For fucks sake!" Eliza screamed as all seven members ran for their lives.

"Bombs defused, good work." Came Kowalski's voice over the radio.

"Shuhrat!" James yelled.

"I'm starting to think he does it on purpose." Gustave said.

"Unless he really is that stupid." Vicente added.

"Seriously Timur, what's the deal with him." Jordan asked.

"If I knew the answer, I would tell you." Was his answer.

"Okay, whatever you do, no one tell Siu, she might actually kill him." Eliza said.

Since their first successful run, the teams had been constantly switched around. This was to see what operators synergized well together, to get the most effectiveness for accomplishing the mission. They found that keeping Siu and Shuhrat as far from each other as possible was very effective, and good for the man's health.

"Anyways, good work today everyone, let's do it again tomorrow." Meghan said. "Hopefully, with a lot less friendly fire."

"That's asking for a lot." Jordan chimed in.

"Good job everyone." Six commented as everyone made there way back into the briefing room. "Not much new to report. I feel like we have nailed down the proper team compositions, I will have a finalized roster of the teams by tomorrow. Speaking of rosters, I have also finalized the roster for the operators staying behind."

Everyone was anxious, none of them wanted to stay back for what would possibly be their biggest mission yet.

"Bandit, Blitz, Castle, Caveira, Hibana, Kapkan, Montagne, Mute, Rook, and Twitch." She announced. All the operators mentioned let out sounds of disappointment, Yumi not being happy about her boyfriend going on a mission without her. "As always, it's not personal, we just need a team to hold down the fort while everyone is gone."

"We understand, and we won't let you down." Miles said.

"Now that that's settled, this was our last practice run as we are now scheduled to depart for China in three days." Six announced. "Make sure you have all your matters in order, I'm giving you these three days to yourselves. Rest, recuperate, and make sure you are ready for what lies ahead. Dismissed."

The operators all felt a mix of excitement and anxiety, those that were going were internally asking themselves if they were truly prepared for the task at hand.

* * *

Ela stood outside the barracks waiting. In her hand, she held the note that Meghan left her this morning. _"Meet me in front of the barracks tonight after practice."_. She was disappointed when she had woken up to find Meghan gone, but the note was a good reassurance. She wanted to ask Meghan throughout the day what she had planned, but they were so busy and with not being on the same team, she didn't get a chance to talk with the blonde. Hopefully tonight would make up for lost time, as soon as they were dismissed, Ela hurried back to her room to change into more suitable clothing and rushed to where Meghan said to meet her, not wanting to risk the blonde thinking she stood her up.

"Ah, you made it."

Ela turned to see the woman currently occupying her thoughts. "You didn't think I wasn't going to show up, did you?" She asked as she smiled at her friend.

"Of course not." The two of them began to walk out of Hereford and into the local town.

"So where are planning on taking me tonight?"

"I'm not sure," Meghan explained, "I was just thinking we could walk around and see if we find anything of interest."

"Really, Meghan Castellano doesn't have a plan for once?" Ela asked jokingly. "How shocking."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Meghan asked.

"You always have a plan, and a backup plan, and a backup to the backup plan. And if anyone doesn't follow that plan, you tend to make a huge deal over it." Ela wasn't actually insulting the SEAL, just making friendly banter.

"You say anyone as if it were multiple people, if I recall correctly, you were the only one ever to deviate from orders."

"Well, it worked didn't it? We made it through Orange Sky without any friendly or civilian casualties."

"I guess I can't be too upset." Meghan relented. "We may have had our differences when it came to fighting, but in the end we made a good team."

"I think we still do." Ela added.

This was the real purpose behind Meghan taking Ela out tonight. One, Ela needed a distraction from the drama that was going on in her life, not only was she no longer focusing on Isaac and the rest of her team, but she was also focusing on a more positive time in her life. Second, she secretly wanted to get closer with Ela. By spending time with her and taking her out to places, it might increase the chance of Ela saying yes when she finally revealed her true feelings.

"Find anything interesting yet?"

Meghan was pulled from her thoughts, she realized they had been wandering aimlessly for a while now. She looked around to see what she could find and found a movie theater, maybe that would be a good distraction. "Hmm, how 'bout a movie?"

"I haven't been to a movie in years." Ela commented.

"Me neither, let's do it."

The two walked up to the ticket counter, they had no idea what kind of movies were playing so they just bought tickets to the next showing.

* * *

"Anything?"

"Not yet."

"There's a lot to go through, might take a while."

Norman and Irvin were scanning the faces of the enemies below their vantage point, looking for one face in particular.

"It can't be true." Irvin said.

"I hope not." Norman replied.

"I mean, he was an asshole, but there's no way he would fall to this."

"We're about to find out." Norman went back to talking his radio.

Irvin continued to look through his binoculars, not all the White Masks were wearing their masks, even for those that were, Irvin had an eye for detail and was able to recognize things like exposed hair and ears to match a face, so far, no luck.

"There's a lot of these assholes, it's going to take a long time to look at all of them."

"We have all to time in the world."

"I still say he's not here."

"Scratch that, it sounds like we might not have to find out whether or not he's here."

"What do you mean?"

"They just got the green light, they'll be here in a few days."

"I really hope he's not here, not for his sake but for everyone's, given how much he knows."

"We'll have to wait and see."

* * *

"I don't get it." Ela whispered.

"What do you mean?" Meghan asked.

"He just left behind his well-paying his job along with his home and traveled to the other side of the country to go see her."

"He wants to show how much he loves her, now they're getting married."

The two had ended up watching some cheesy romance movie. Meghan thought the movie was kind of sweet, Ela had spent the whole time confused.

"But now he's unemployed and homeless, what are they going to do now? How is he going to support her?"

"That's not the point, Ela."

"Then what is?"

"The point is that true love conquers all."

Ela rolled her eyes. "I'm just saying, finances are one of the leading causes of divorce, and I'm sure having a house helps as well."

"I don't know, I didn't direct the movie."

"Shhh. Quiet down so the rest of us can enjoy the film." A third voice chimed in.

"Sorry." Meghan whispered. Then she noticed how familiar the voice sounded. She tried to focus on the owner of the voice, it was dark in the theater, but she was just able to make out who it was. "Timur?"

The Russian turned around in surprise, upon recognizing his fellow operators, he dropped his popcorn and soda and ran out of the room, not wanting to be seen although it was too late.

The two women looked at each other as if to ask if that had really just happened. Then both of them started to snicker, realizing just how funny the scenario was. After a few moments, they couldn't control themselves and let out their laughter. This caused even more of the patrons in the theater to send negative looks their way. Meghan took notice of this and decided to spare them of any more disturbances, she grabbed Ela by hand and lead her out of the building, forgetting the movie all together. Once they were outside, they let out everything, both women bursting out in laughter, Ela was holding her sides and Meghan had to wipe away tears. After a couple minutes, they both calmed down, tonight had been great, exactly as Meghan had hoped. She turned to face Ela, who was looking back at her, a smile still on her face, finally free of worry and uncertainty, and she was standing close, so close. She looked so beautiful, so perfect, her eyes felt like they were staring right into her soul. As if in a trance, Meghan couldn't stop herself, she gently placed her hands on the sides of Ela's face. She knew she shouldn't, she knew now wasn't the right time, in this moment, she couldn't stop. She brought the girls face up to hers and softly caressed her lips with her own.

Ela was in shock. Her body went stiff as a board. She didn't know what to make of the situation, she hadn't expected this at all, and now her mind was racing with all sorts of questions. Why was Meghan doing this? Had she planned this? Why did it feel so nice? Next thing Ela knew, she was closing her eyes and leaning into the kiss. For once, she felt totally comfortable, totally safe.

" _What are you doing?!"_ Her father's voice had come back, and with it, reality.

The fear and confusion had returned and hit Ela like a truck. In a panic, she pushed Meghan off her. Both of them just stared at one another, neither knowing what to say. Meghan knew immediately that she had messed up, this wasn't supposed to happen, at least not yet. The look on Ela's face said it all.

"Ela, I…" Meghan didn't know what to say. "I'm sorry."

"Why did you do that?" The Polish girl asked, confused.

"I don't know why I did that, I didn't mean to, I wasn't supposed to." Meghan stuttered.

"Meghan, do you, have feelings for me?"

After what had just transpired, Meghan didn't think there was a point in hiding anything. "Yes. Yes I do, and I know I shouldn't have told you like that, I don't know what came over me."

"Meghan, you know how much I'm dealing with and what I'm going through right now."

"I know, I wasn't trying to make it worse, I wasn't even supposed to tell you yet. But yes, I have romantic feelings for you Ela, I have for a while now and I want to be with you, if you'll have me."

Ela was now as lost and confused as ever. "I need to think about it…on my own." She then turned to leave.

Meghan didn't know if she could handle seeing her walk away again, before she knew it, she grabbed the girl by the hand. "Ela, wait! Please don't leave." Ela faced back at her. "Ela, I know I messed things up, but I've been unhappy since joining Rainbow. I've been miserable, and I didn't even see it until recently, when you showed up. Simply being around you has made me the happiest I've been in years. You've made me realize what was missing from my life." Meghan was now holding back tears. "Please don't walk away."

Ela was also trying not to cry. "Meghan, I'm not saying no, but I really need to think on this, and I need to do it alone. There's a lot happening in my life, I don't know if I can add whatever this is to it as well."

"Ela, please."

"I'm sorry."

With that, Ela let go of Meghan's hand and walked back to Hereford base alone. Meghan walked in the opposite direction. She kept walking aimlessly, not knowing where she was going as long as it was away from everything and everyone. She ended up in a park that was empty due to it being late at night, she found an empty bench and sat down, put her face in her hands and cried.

* * *

Author's note: I've had this chapter written in my head since the beginning, it's nice to finally see it published. I'm sorry to end it on a somber note, but like I said last time, I've got everything planned out. As always, I hope you enjoyed and feel free to leave a review. Until next time.


	14. Chapter 13

Author's note: I'm so sorry this one took so long. I'll explain at the end, but for now I'v made you guys wait long enough. Enjoy.

* * *

What Will It Take?

Chapter 13

* * *

Monika walked into the lounge to grab a bottle of water, still sweating from her workout at the gym. She chose to train during the late hours since there were few patrons at that time. She was sporting her new green workout attire, which Eliza claimed made her look 'sexy as hell' although the blonde didn't understand how one could find workout clothes sexy. However, the German would purposefully leave her pink bra strap exposed because she knew it drove her red headed girlfriend crazy. Normally Meghan would join her in her workouts, but tonight the SEAL said she had made other plans, Monika was curious as to what those plans could be, until she saw her leave with a certain Polish operator.

As if on cue, she saw the American girl walk into the lounge, having returned from her outing. "Meghan." She smiled.

Meghan turned around and Monika could see the remnants of tears on her friends face. Monika's smile quickly disappeared. "Oh no." She walked over to her friend and put a hand on her shoulder. "What happened?"

Meghan wasn't sure how to answer, finally she just said it. "I messed up. I messed everything up Monika."

"Ela?"

Meghan nodded.

The two sat down at one of the tables. "Tell me what happened."

"I kissed her."

Monika was surprised, she didn't think her friend would go that far just yet. "She rejected you?"

"Well, she said she had to think about it."

"So how did you mess things up?"

"Because I wasn't supposed to tell her yet, let alone kiss her." Meghan explained. "She has so much to deal with right now, with the mission happening soon and with her personal troubles. I told myself that I would wait until everything passed and was taken care of before I would tell her how I feel."

"So what exactly made you jump the gun?"

"I don't know, we were out having fun. We were both laughing and having a good time and I guess…"

"You got caught up in the moment and decided to do something spontaneous and romantic." Monika finished for her.

"…yeah. How did you guess that?"

Monika sighed. "Because being spontaneous was how Eliza first kissed me, guess how I reacted."

"You kissed her back and you two immediately fell in love?"

Monika let out a small laugh. "You've been watching too many romance movies. Not quite."

"How then?"

"I wasn't expecting it and was caught off guard," She explained, "so I slapped her across the face so hard that I'm sure I saw some of her freckles fall off."

Meghan was stunned at the revelation, but not ultimately surprised. "Really?"

"Yes. I told her that was completely uncalled for and for her to drop dead, along with some other harsh words." Monika smiled at the memory. "I must have taught her every curse word in the German language."

"Given how you two are now, I never would have guessed."

"Exactly, if I reacted like that and we're still going strong, I know things will turn out alright for you and Ela. I know exactly how she feels right now."

"What do you mean?"

"Ela said she had to think about it. It was the same for me when I was considering dating Eliza. I had never dated or even been interested in a woman before, it was all new to me. But after a lot of thinking and weighing my options, I realized that she was a great match for me. Sure it was rough and even a bit awkward in the beginning, but being with her was the best decision of my life."

"So, what about Ela?"

"Ela is confused and maybe even afraid about what she's feeling. Once she has calmed down and thought everything through, she will decide whether or not you are worth her time. To be honest, she'd be a fool not to, but that's her decision."

"So what do I do in the mean time? What did Eliza do for you?"

"She waited patiently for me to figure everything out, which I appreciated. I suggest you do the same, just give her some space, if she needs you, she will ask for you, but otherwise you must let her figure this out on her own. In the meantime, don't stress yourself to death."

"But how can I not? I haven't felt this way about someone in a long time and now I may have ruined my only chance. What do I do if she says no?"

"If she says no before the relationship begins, it never stood a chance and you need to move on." The German explained. "I know that's not exactly what you want to hear, but taking a chance at starting a relationship isn't the only time you will take a risk on one another. In order for a relationship to survive, you will need to take chances and make sacrifices for each other time and time again. If she isn't willing to take that first leap, there's no chance that it would have lasted."

It wasn't the most reassuring advice, but Meghan knew it was the truth. "I guess you're right. I'm just terrified that she'll say no and I'll have to start over again looking for someone else."

"Personally, I think your chances are good."

"You think so?"

"Given what you've done for her and how close you two have become, I think the odds may ever be in your favor."

"Thanks."

"Maybe I'll even catch you in her bed again." Monika winked.

Meghan blushed. "Why did you have to tell everyone?"

"I thought you were together, I was happy for you two."

"Of course."

"Regardless, whatever the future has in store for you Meghan, I know you will be okay."

Meghan was thankful that her friend was able to help her in this confusing situation. "Thank you Monika."

"No problem." Monika looked at the time. "You should get some rest."

"That sounds like a good idea."

"And remember, don't stress yourself."

"I'll try not to."

The two hugged before leaving the lounge, Meghan going to her room while Monika entered Eliza's room. Meghan tried to get some sleep, but had trouble wondering what Ela would say to her in the future.

* * *

Ela managed to keep her composure all the way back to the barracks. However, as soon as she closed the door to her room, she let out everything. Tears spilled down her face as she cried out loud, not caring if anyone heard. For a while that's all she did, she just sat on the floor and sobbed.

She wasn't crying because she was unsure of how she felt, quite the opposite. She knew exactly how she felt. It was obvious, it should have been a no-brainer, Meghan was perfect for her. Meghan had been nothing but caring and kind to her since the day they had met, not just in Rainbow, but when they had first encountered each other ten years ago. When she had kissed her, it felt perfect, she wanted nothing more than to kiss her back, but she couldn't, why could she do it?

" _Because you'd be a fool for trying."_ That's why. Her father, her old demons, haunting her as they always did.

"Why?" Ela asked. "She's perfect, I've never felt closer to anyone in my life." Ela began arguing with the dead man.

" _She's also a woman."_

"So what? That doesn't matter to me, as long as I care about her and she cares about me."

" _We both know what happens to people you care about, you fail them and terrible things happen."_

"Not this time, I wont let anything happen to her."

" _A bold statement, and one you can't control."_

"Why?...You've been rotting in the ground for ten years, why do you keep tormenting me? Why can't you let me have this?"

" _You and I both know why you're doing this, this is just another stunt your pulling because you know I wouldn't approve."_

"This isn't about you."

" _Are you sure?"_

"Of course, asshole."

" _Really now? Curse me all you want, but you have to ask yourself, do you really want her? Or are you just lashing out again as you always do?"_

"I…" Ela was now frustrated that she couldn't answer.

" _See."_

"Fuck you!" Ela began crying again. "Why do you keep coming back? Why can't I just be free of you?" She laid down on her bed, searching her heart for an answer to her question. Was her attraction to Meghan true, or just another way of getting back her father like everything else?

* * *

"And then Amelie punched Gabriel in the face." Lena laughed. Amelie was sitting next to her with a smirk on her face.

Meghan was concerned. "But all he said was you had a nice haircut."

"He did it in a flirtatious manor." Amelie said in her defense. "I had to show him what is mine."

"But punching him in the face?"

"It got the point across, no?"

"Olivia caught it on camera." Lena showed Meghan a recording of the unfortunate man getting knocked out with a single punch by the French woman.

Meghan wasn't sure if she should be concerned or impressed. "He definitely wasn't flirting."

"Oh Amelie was just being protective is all." Lena said as she nuzzled up to the French woman.

"Is he alright at least?"

"He'll be fine…I'm sure."

"If you say so."

The three of them were having dinner at the coffee shop, Meghan keeping her promise of spending as much time with Lena as possible before leaving for China. She also needed a distraction from her predicament with Ela, it had been a full day since the movie theater incident and the Polish girl hadn't spoken to her at all. Meghan was starting to get anxious.

"You leave in two days right?" Lena asked.

"Yes, and I'll be gone for a few weeks." Meghan answered.

Lena's mood dampened. "You ready?"

"I'm always ready."

"Are you nervous?"

"A little, but I've been through this many times before."

"You're going to be careful right?"

"Of course I am."

"Good."

Meghan wanted to change the subject to lighten Lena's mood. "Have you thought about where you want to go when I get back?"

Lena smiled. "Sure, how 'bout Bristol?"

"Never been there but I hear it's a beautiful place, sounds like it could be a good trip."

"Perfect, I can't wait!" Lena was excited. "What do you think babe?"

"Anything is good to me as long as I get to be alone with you." Amelie answered with a certain look on her face, causing Lena to blush.

"Okay, well now I'm definitely not leaving you two alone." Meghan interrupted.

"Oh come on Meghan, we're just kidding." Lena responded. "Kind of."

"Sure. Anyway, we'll start planning our trip once I get back."

"Sounds brilliant."

"Oui." Amelie agreed.

Meghan suddenly felt her phone vibrate in her pocket. She pulled it out and saw that she had received a text message, and it was from none other than Ela herself. Meghan felt her heart drop, she wanted to read the message but was too scared to open it at the same time.

Finally, she unlocked her phone and read the text. _"Are you busy?"_

" _What do you need?"_ Meghan quickly typed her response.

" _Can we talk?"_

" _Of course, I'll be there in a few minutes."_

" _Thank you."_

Meghan was now even more nervous than she was about their mission in China. She had never been in this situation before, sure she had been rejected by guys and girls in the past, but she had never wanted to be with any of them as badly as she wanted to be with Ela.

She hated to leave Lena and Amelie, but she really needed to hear what Ela had to say. "Guys I'm really sorry but something came up that I need to take care of."

Lena was slightly disappointed but understood. "Okay. Have a good night." Lena got up and hugged the SEAL. "Talk to you tomorrow?"

"Of course."

"Brilliant, see you then luv."

"You two behave yourselves now." Meghan specifically looked at the French woman. "See you tomorrow."

Lena sat back down and watched Meghan leave, a worried look on her face.

Amelie wrapped an arm around her girlfriend. "She will be fine chérie."

"You think so?"

"Of course, even if just half of what you have told me about her is true, she will be just fine."

"I hope you're right."

* * *

Meghan stood outside of Ela's door for what felt like an eternity, she wanted to see her but at the same time she knew she might not like what Ela had to say. Finally, after standing out in the hallway looking like a lost puppy, she knocked on the door.

"Come in." She heard Ela say through the door.

She slowly opened the door and stepped inside, the lights were dimmed in the room. Immediately, she saw Ela sitting on her bed, knees pulled up to her chest, as if she was trying to make herself look as small as possible. "Hey Ela." She greeted.

"Hey."

"You wanted to talk?"

Ela nodded and pat the area of the bed next to her, inviting Meghan to sit down. Meghan walked over and sat beside the Polish operator, she couldn't hep but notice that Ela couldn't bring herself to look her in the eye.

"Meghan," She started. "about what happened last night."

"I'm sorry," Meghan interrupted. "I shouldn't have done that."

"How long have you felt that way?"

"Since you came back into my life, but I didn't realize it until a few days ago."

"What about me makes you feel that way? After how much we clashed during Orange Sky, I thought you hated me."

"At first I think I did, but later on I realized, I think it's what made me attracted to you. You were the only one to challenge me or defy my orders and come out on top. It made you stand out to me, which I liked. In all honesty, I think I was envious of your rebellious nature."

"So you like me because I pissed you off?"

"That's one way of putting it, I guess." The comment made them both smile, if only for a moment.

"Is that all?"

"There's also the fact that you're the most beautiful woman I've ever met."

This made Ela blush, luckily the darkened state of the room hid this from her companion. When she first met her old team, several of them had told her the same thing hoping to get in her pants. However, she quickly drove the point home that she wasn't interested in being with anyone and they eventually stopped trying.

"Meghan, I'm scared." Ela said. "I've been in life or death situations countless times in my life and now I'm more terrified of this. I feel so pathetic."

Meghan looked at her. "If it makes you feel any better, I'm scared too."

"Meghan, a big part of me knows that doing this would be a mistake that wouldn't end well."

Meghan hid the pain she felt inside at hearing those words. Her worst fear had come true. She had to force herself not to cry.

"But," Ela started again. "I know I trust you." Ela finally turned at looked at Meghan, she was giving her the same look she had back at the movie theater. Meghan could swear she was leaning in close.

"Ela?"

"I can trust you with anything…right?" She asked.

"Of course." Was Meghan's only response.

"Then I'm willing to take that risk." With that, Ela closed the gap between them and brought her lips to Meghan's. At first, Meghan was surprised, she almost couldn't comprehend that this was happening. Then she managed to close her eyes and return the kiss. They began bringing their bodies closer, Meghan wrapped her arms around Ela's waist as Ela wrapped her arms around the back of Meghan's neck. It felt so nice, so perfect, they made the kiss last as long as possible, separating only when they both needed air.

The two of them looked at each other, almost as if in a haze, as if neither one of them could believe that this was really happening. But it was, and Meghan was thanking every higher power she could think of that this was real. She kissed Ela again, to feel the sensation of her soft lips caressing her own, she couldn't get enough of it, eventually they both needed air again. They both decided to stop before one of them passed out.

"I promise, I wont let you down Ela."

"I know you won't."

"I cant believe this is actually happening."

"So, where do we go from here?" Ela asked, all of this being completely new to her

"China," Meghan answered. "so we can accomplish the mission as a team once again."

"As a couple." Ela corrected.

Hearing Ela call them a couple made Meghan's heart want to jump out of her chest. "As a couple." She repeated.

Meghan gave Ela another quick kiss, which Ela gladly returned. "We should get some sleep." Ela suggested. "We only have one more full day before we leave."

"Can I…stay here?" Meghan asked tentatively.

"Of course you can."

The two of them laid down on the bed and pulled the covers over them. For a while they simply stared into each other's eyes, not saying anything, both of them were on cloud nine. Meghan didn't want to fall asleep, she feared that she would wake up only to find out that this was a cruel dream, but eventually her body's needs overtook her and they both fell asleep, holding on to each other's hands

There was no telling how well or how bad this would turn out. However, now that the two of them were finally together, they both felt like they could take on whatever the world could throw at them.

* * *

Author's note: As I said, I'm really sorry that this took so long. So it's official, after spending the last two years in Japan, I'm finally back in the US. That's the good news. The bad news, in the process of moving here, some of my stuff was lost, including my computer, along with all my writing and notes. Luckily, I had it insured and managed to buy a new one. Now I have this new laptop and I'm having to start pretty much from scratch. Thankfully I have all the chapters saved here on fanfiction. Anyways as for the story, finally our two lovebirds are together, it's about time and now we get to see all the awkward and adorable moments that come with a new relationship. Just a heads up, I've only got one more chapter until we hit Act 3, which will likely be shorter than Acts 1 and 2. Also, this story hit 100 followers! I never thought that this story would get up to that many, I would have been more than happy if all I had was 5. Thank you all so much for reading my story and being patient with me it honestly means a lot, hopefully the next chapter wont take as long. As always, I hope you enjoyed and please feel free to leave a review. Until next time.


	15. Chapter 14

Author's note: First off, Sexual Content, you have been warned. Well here's the longest chapter yet, and the final one for Act 2. Special shout out to RStyle for beta reading this for me! Enjoy.

* * *

What Will It Take?

Chapter 14

* * *

Ela woke up in a way she hadn't in a long time, with a smile on her face. She rolled onto her side to look at the SEAL next to her. Meghan was still asleep with her back facing her, Ela didn't want to disturb the blonde so she just sat back and admired her new girlfriend.

Girlfriend. It was a strange word to the Polish girl, she had never been in a relationship before, there were a few times that she had been tempted while studying in Berlin but none of those ever came to fruition. She wasn't sure what to do from here, this was about to be a completely new experience for her, which made her both excited and nervous. All the more reason that Meghan was a good pick for her, she trusted the SEAL.

The more she looked at her, more were the reasons she had to smile. She admired the blonde's tattoo's, the tribal patterns running up her arms, and through the gap in her tank top, Ela could see they continued to the woman's upper back and possibly downward. Ela wondered just how much of the woman's body was covered in ink, and her mind wandered off as the woman imagined exactly which parts.

Ela's cheeks blushed as she mentally slapped herself, they had been together for barely twelve hours, she shouldn't be thinking of Meghan in such a manner, right? Meghan surely would never do such a thing. She decided to get out of bed and get dressed before she had anymore inappropriate ideas.

Just as she put on her jacket, she felt a pair of arms wrap around her waist. "Morning." Meghan greeted as she rested her chin on Ela's shoulder.

"Good morning." Ela greeted back.

"Sleep well?"

"Better than ever."

"Glad to hear it." Meghan gave Ela a quick peck on the cheek.

Ela melted into the embrace, she looked down at the arms wrapped around her, it felt almost as if they were her shield. She felt completely comfortable and safe, She felt as if a void in her heart has been filled up to the brim. This is what she had been missing her whole life.

"Having fun there?" Meghan suddenly asked as she leaned in to take a better look at Ela.

"Huh?" Ela hadn't realized that she absentmindedly started tracing the designs on one of Meghan's arms. "Oh, sorry."

"It's alright." Meghan laughed. "You like them?" She asked, referring to her tattoo's

"I think they're beautiful." Ela commented. "What do they mean?"

"They're signs of strength and experience." Meghan explained. "Every time I go out on a mission, I get more added to it, the bigger and tougher the mission, the bigger the addition."

Ela marveled at the marking even more, having put in perspective just how much the SEAL had been through.

"You should get one."

"What?" Ela was caught by surprise by the comment.

"A tattoo, just a small one to start, don't you think that would be cool?"

"Um," Ela had never considered getting a tattoo before. "what would I even get?"

"Anything you want, what ever you think would be a nice permanent mark on your skin."

"Maybe one day." Ela wasn't going to make any bold decisions like that on the fly.

Meghan finally let go of her and also began getting dressed, Ela took one last peak at her back before she covered it with her shirt. In her opinion, the markings made Meghan even more attractive. She seriously wanted to see the rest of them, along with her entire body. Ela mentally slapped herself again.

"Want to grab breakfast?" Meghan asked once they were both dressed.

"Sounds great." They were about to leave the room when Ela realized something. "Meghan?"

"Yeah?"

"What are we going to tell everyone?"

Meghan gave her a confused look. "About?"

"U-us," Ela muttered as her cheeks turned red in embarrassment. The whole concept sounded so strange to her that she was unsure what to say.

Meghan thought for a moment, she could see Ela wasn't one to draw unnecessary attention to herself. "Well, we don't have to make a big deal of it. I mean, if they ask, we'll tell them but we really don't need to scream it from the roof top."

"I'm fine with not telling anyone at all."

Meghan let out a small laugh before the two of them left to go to the lounge.

Nearly everyone was in the lounge starting off the day, some were trying to get a bite to eat, others just needing a place to relax and socialize. Eliza and Monika were having breakfast together, again. The SAS were having a team discussion, Seamus mostly asking where his hammer was, again. Maxim and Tina were sitting together, having a chat. Dominic was laughing at Elias, having successfully shocked him with his battery. Tachanka, was being Tachanka.

Ela and Meghan walked in together to grab a bite to eat. Meghan grabbed them each some food from the refrigerator, while Ela grabbed drinks for the both of them. Then they found an empty table to sit at. They were just about to start eating when they realized that the room had gone silent. They looked up to see that all eyes were on them, staring intently.

Meghan rolled her eyes. "Yes, we're dating!"

The room erupted with chatter. "Jordan, you owe me twenty bucks." Miles said.

Similar conversations started among the other operators, some gloating about being winning while others were disgruntled about having to pay up. Ela hid her face in her hands to hide her embarrassment.

Meghan grabbed one of her hands, forcing Ela to look at her. "Don't pay attention to them." She gave the girls hand a reassuring squeeze.

Eliza and Monika joined them at their table, Eliza giving Meghan a hug. "Congratulations you two, I knew you could do it."

"About time as well." Monika commented.

"So you assholes were taking bets on us?" Meghan asked.

"Well, everyone was getting tired of the tension and wanted to see if you two would finally end up together or lose your minds dancing around it." Eliza explained.

"Were you two in on this.?"

"I wasn't." Monika answered.

"Eliza?" Meghan stared at her friend.

The red head nonchalantly looked away.

"Really Liza?!"

"Only for five dollars, and it was in favor of you guys."

While everyone was arguing, Tina and Maxim watched from their corner. "And this is why we should just keep this to ourselves." Tina said.

"Yes, people make it into a bigger deal than it needs to be." Maxim agreed

"By the way, since they're together, that means I won."

"Fine, I'll pay you later."

"You can pay me tonight." Tina winked at the man.

* * *

"Alright, your turn." Norman said putting his binoculars down.

"On it." Irvin picked up his optics and began observing. They had been observing the base for the past few days with out any major changes. The two of them were starting to get bored.

"Any word on when they're coming in, and when we're getting the hell out of here?" Irvin asked.

"They're flying out tomorrow, and the raid is supposed to go three days after that." Norman answered.

"Good, because we only got five days' worth of food left."

"First thing I'm doing when we get back is eating something that wasn't vacuum packed in a bag for ten years, I don't care what it is."

"You can say that again." Irvin agreed. "At least we're doing better than Team Ghost in Bolivia."

"That's true I guess. Fighting an entire country of drug smugglers coked out of their minds sounds like a much shitter deal."

"Tell me about it, we're bringing twenty-three guys to take a building, they have four guys in charge of liberating a country."

"Maybe that's why they're going to be the next members to be selected for Rainbow."

"I told you man, that's just a silly rumor."

"I'm telling you, I think it could be true."

"We'll see, I guess."

Suddenly Irvin saw something through the binoculars that caught his attention. "Hold up, I might have something."

"What's up?" Norman grabbed is pair of binoculars and began observing again.

"See that guy, on the right."

Norman looked over in the specified direction. He immediately noticed a White Mask who appeared to have just arrived. His back was facing them, what made him stand out was the fact that he had several other members surrounding him, talking with him as if he were someone important.

"Well someone's popular." Norman commented.

"Definitely a high ranking member."

"What do you think he's doing here?"

"Probably checking the bombs, making sure they're prepped and ready."

"Hopefully he decided to stay around, getting him along with the base would be icing on the cake."

"Let's see if we can get a view of his face, maybe we already have a profile on him."

The two waited for a few minutes for the man to finally turn around, they were immediately disheartened by what they saw.

"That's Peterson."

"It's true, he's one of them."

"This can't be real."

"Isaac is not going to be happy about this."

* * *

Amelie was sitting at one of the tables in her girlfriends coffee shop, as she always did while she waited for Lena to end her shift. She secretly found it fascinating to watch the young Brit run the entire shop on her own when there were no other employees around. She supposed it had to do a lot with her friendly attitude and ability to move around seemingly in the blink of an eye.

"Whew, that's the last one for today." Lena said as her shift came to an end and there were no more incoming customers. "Just going to clean up a bit before clocking out luv." She said to her girlfriend before practically teleporting to the kitchen.

"Take your time chérie." Amelie said. As she waited, she noticed two familiar figures entering the shop. "Lena, you actually have two more customers."

"Be right there!" The brunet called.

"Hey Amelie." Meghan greeted.

"Good afternoon Meghan," Amelie greeted back, " and who might this be?" She gestured towards Ela.

"Meghan!" Lena greeted happily, she then noticed the Polish girl standing next to her. "I remember you, your names Ela right?"

Ela nodded in response . "You remembered."

Lena took a second and noticed how close the two were standing, along with the way Meghan was looking at Ela, then finally it clicked. "YOU TWO ARE DATING!" She pointed.

Meghan laughed. "Are we that obvious?"

"Of course, there's no hiding that goofy lovebird look when you start a relationship."

Meghan wrapped an arm around her girlfriend, while all Ela could do was blush. "I guess that's true." She gave Ela a kiss on the cheek, which only deepened the shade of red on her face.

"It's about bloody time you found someone, I was beginning to think you'd grow old and die alone."

"Gee thanks." Meghan responded sarcastically.

"So you said that you two weren't on a date when you came in together, what changed your minds."

"Meghan decided to kiss me out of nowhere." Ela said bluntly.

"Aw, that's so romantic."

"You don't know the half of it." Ela muttered.

"Well I'm super happy for the both of you." Lena pulled both of them into a hug. Ela noticed that for such a petite girl, she possessed a remarkable amount of strength, she was having trouble breathing.

"Lena, you're killing them." Amelie pointed out.

"Oh, sorry." She apologized as she let go of the two.

The two operators caught their breath. "Thanks Amelie." Meghan said. "I don't believe you two have met, Ela this is Amelie, Lena's girlfriend."

"Nice to meet you." Ela greeted as they shook hands.

"A pleasure." Amelie responded. "So, you also work for Hereford base?"

"Yes, I'm Meghan's newest teammate."

"Intéressant. I didn't expect so many women to be a part of such an elite team."

"There's more of us than you might think." Ela commented. "So what do you do?"

"I'm the co-founder of Talon Corporation."

"The company that works on omnic technology or whatever it's called?"

"Yes, in fact you may have used some of our products, the Recon Drone Mark 1."

"You make our drones?"

"Correct, we hope to also release a wall mounted bullet-proof camera model in a few months."

"Wait, you said you're the co-founder?"

Amelie nodded. "Along with my colleagues, Olivia and Gabriel."

"And Talon is big organization, so wouldn't that mean.."

"Yes, I'm a millionaire."

Ela couldn't hide her surprise, she wouldn't expect someone of high status to be living out here in a random town in England. She was also impressed that the French woman achieved such a status at a young age.

"So, Give me all the details." Lena chimed in. "How did you two meet? When did you realize you liked each other? Have you two had sex yet?"

"Lena, highly inappropriate." Amelie chastised.

"Oh come one, all of us here have done it, right?"

"I'm starting to think Amelie is the one I have to protect."

Ela looked away to hide her embarrassment, she didn't want to tell them that she had never had sex with anyone before. It wasn't that she couldn't get with anyone, countless men had tried, she just didn't see what the big deal was. She thought back to her thoughts this morning, Meghan was the first person that she had thought of in that manner. Maybe now was the time, she had no doubt in her mind that Meghan was the right person.

"Well to answer your first two questions, we met ten years ago in Iraq when we were assigned to the same operation, and I realized I liked her when everyone kept telling me I did." Meghan answered.

"What do you mean, everyone?"

"Everyone. They all took bets."

"Why didn't anyone tell me? I would have made a killing."

"Lena, you are too young to gamble." Amelie commented.

"Also, I'd appreciate if people stopped betting on me." Meghan added.

* * *

"Everything in order?" Six asked.

"Plane's already here, it'll be ready for take at noon as planned." Isaac responded.

"Perfect."

"You okay with me pulling the scout team soon?" He asked.

"You can have them fall back to the extraction point twenty-four hours prior to the mission." She answered.

"Excellent."

"How is everyone doing?"

"All operators are prepped and ready to go."

"I meant your team, Isaac."

"I'm sorry?"

"Peterson was one of your own back then, I know seeing him working for the enemy is wearing on you and your men."

Isaac paused. "It hurts to see him going down such a dark path, especially knowing the heroic things we did together all those years ago.. But I try to focus on the lives affected by this terror group. How many lives have they taken and how many families have they been destroyed? If that's the evil he wants to follow, then he's made his choice."

"And the rest of your team are in agreement?" She asked genuinely curious.

"We all discussed it and we didn't come to that conclusion with a smile on our faces. But it's a reality we must accept. If this is the business he's dealing in now, the Peterson we know is already dead."

"All? Including our newest operator?"

He gave her a confused look.

"Isn't she still technically a part of your team? I figured since the bond you shared with Norman and the others was unbreakable. Does she even know he's there?"

"No." He responded. "She…she still won't talk to us."

"Hmm." Six thought for a moment. "I knew that would be an issue when we brought her in, just be patient. I've heard Valkyrie has been making considerable process with her."

"You can definitely say that again." Isaac said under his breath. Six never got involved with the operators personal lives, in fact she never even called them by their actually names. It didn't surprise Isaac that she wasn't aware of Meghan and Ela's new relationship. He was fairly sure she wasn't even aware of Eliza and Monika going on two years.

"My main concern Captain, is when the time comes for us to take him down, will you be ready to accept what comes?" Six asked in a serious tone.

Isaac thought hard about his next words. "If this is really what he's become, then my friend died long ago. If it comes to it, I'll pull the trigger myself."

"Very well." She stood up and looked out the window. "What are the operators doing now?"

"Probably enjoying their last day of peace at home."

"Do you feel that they are ready?"

"Team Rainbow is always ready."

"Then the mission will proceed as planned."

* * *

"Oh you should have seen the look on Reinhardt's face." Lena exclaimed.

"So I take it he was happy to be reunited with her." Meghan asked.

"Of course he tried to mask it with his bravado, but we could tell he was thrilled to see Ana again."

"Think they'll hit it off?"

"I hope so, after all the time they worked together there's bound to be some magic between them." Lena said. "Plus, they both deserve to be happy."

"Sounds like you're excited to see what happens."

"Are you kidding, old happy couples are the cutest thing ever!"

"And how does Fareeha feel about it?"

"She was more excited than I was, as much as she wishes her parents were still together, she also wants what's best for her mother."

"That's good."

While the two were talking, Ela and Amelie both being the quiet types, were content with sitting and listening to their girlfriends talk about what was going on in their lives. To them, simply being in the presence of their significant other was more than enough, nothing more needed to be said. Without thinking, Ela rested her head on Meghan's shoulder, and Meghan responded by wrapping an arm around her waist to pull her closer.

"Awww." Lena squealed. "You two are absolutely adorable."

Ela pulled down the vizor on her hat to hide her blush. Meghan and Lena laughed, Amelie even gave a smirk.

"Don't be embarrassed Ela." Meghan tried to comfort. "There's nothing wrong with showing a little affection."

"I know." It wasn't that she thought it was wrong, she just didn't enjoy when all attention was focused on her.

Meghan gently lifted Ela's head by the chin and placed a kiss to the Polish girls lips. As much as she enjoyed kissing her girlfriend, it only deepened her blush.

"See, just adorable." Lena piped in.

"Thanks Lena."

The conversation slowed for a minute, then Lena asked. "You all leave tomorrow right?"

"Yes."

"Ela, can you do me a favor?"

Ela was surprised that the girl would ask her for a favor, but nodded anyway.

"Make sure Ms. America takes care of herself, don't let anything happen to her, please."

Ela could hear the genuine care in Lena's words. "I promise."

"Thank you."

"What makes you think I need to be taken care of?" Meghna asked, who seemed just as surprised as Ela.

"Because I'm worried all of your success is going to your head."

"You don't need to worry Lena." The blonde reassured.

"We both know that I do." Lena said seriously.

This brought things into perspective for Ela, she had gone into dangerous situations so many times in her life that she was numb to it. But now she was about to step into the arena with someone she cared deeply about, something she hadn't done since that fateful day ten years ago. The thought of something happening to Meghan terrified her. The promise to look after her wasn't just for Lena, Meghan was the most important person Ela has in her life, there was no way Ela was going to lose her.

* * *

It was well into the evening when the group of four walked up to the gate of Hereford Base. Lena and Amelie, being civilians, were not allowed inside, so they had to say their farewells here.

"You be careful now, you hear me?" Lena said to Meghan.

"Yeah, I hear you." Meghan said as she wrapped her arms around the smaller girl. The two embraced for a minute before letting go, tears were starting to form in Lena's eyes.

"You too luv." She turned to Ela and wrapped her arms around her as well.

Ela stood there awkwardly but eventually returned the hug. She supposed that being with Meghan meant that she would be interacting with Lena and Amelie fairly often, and she was surprisingly okay with that.

"Take care of yourselves. Be safe." Lena said to the both of them.

"We will." Meghan assured.

"Bonne chance. Fais attention." Said Amelie.

With that, the two operators turned around and entered the base. Amelie wrapped a comforting arm around Lena's waist. Without saying anything, the two turned around and walked back to the coffee shop.

Once they got back to the barracks Meghan pulled out her phone. "Hey, I have to make a call, I'll meet you upstairs." She said to Ela, who nodded and continued walking up to the second floor.

Meghan entered the lounge and dialed a number, after a few rings, the other line picked up. "Meghan! Nice to hear from you."

"Hey mom." Meghan greeted.

"So what do I owe the pleasure?"

"Well, I'm sorry that I didn't tell you earlier, but I wanted to let you know that…I'm heading out again."

There was a pause on the other end. "Another mission?"

"Yeah."

"When do you leave?"

"Tomorrow."

"For how long?" Meghan could hear the shaking in her mothers voice.

"A few weeks."

"You're ready, right?"

"I always am."

Unlike Lena, Meghan's mother had dealt with this for over a decade, it still wasn't easy, but she understood that all she could do was trust that her daughter was well trained and was strong enough to get through the potential run through hell she was heading towards. She also knew that in her daughters line of work, Meghan wouldn't be able to tell her anything about the mission, so she didn't bother to ask.

"You'll be careful as always?"

"Of course."

"I wish you had told me sooner."

"I know, I'm really sorry."

"I'll be praying for you."

"Thank you."

For a while the line both women went quiet, no matter how many times they did this, there was no set way to have a conversation like this, a parent talking to their child for potentially the last time. "You know your dad would be extremely proud of you."

"I know."

"And you know I'm proud of you, right?"

"Of course." Meghan knew her mother was just trying to be strong, it killed her knowing what this was doing to her.

"Look, just be careful okay, and call me as soon as you can, please."

"I will mom, I promise."

"Good, how is everything else going?"

"Great, actually. In fact, I have some news for you when I get back."

"I look forward to hearing it."

Meghan smiled. "I love you, mom."

"I love you too sweetie." Some happiness returning to her voice. "Be safe, okay."

"I will. Talk to you soon."

"Goodbye, Meghan."

She hung up the phone and sat there, wondering if she should have said more. Did she need to say more? No, this was just another mission. She had gone on countless others just as dangerous, and she was the unstoppable Meghan Castellano, there was nothing to worry about, she would be back to Lena and her mother in just a few weeks, right? She had no reason to think otherwise. Before she thought too hard on the subject, she went upstairs, not wanting to keep her girlfriend waiting.

* * *

When she got to the top of the stairs, she saw Ela waiting outside of her room. She offered a smile as she walked up to her. Meghan was concerned about her, since talking with Lena at the coffee shop, the Polish girl was even quieter than usual. "Hey, are you alright, you kind of just stopped talking back there?"

Ela thought for a few seconds on how to answer. There was something that had been on her mind since this morning, and she had spent the majority of the day thinking back and forth on it. Now she wasn't sure how to even bring it up. "I've…been thinking."

"About what?" Meghan asked.

Instead of using her words, Ela leaned up and pressed her lips to Meghan's. They shared the kiss for a few seconds before pulling away.

"You've been thinking about kissing me all night?" Meghan asked.

Ela had a smile on her face as she was biting her lip. Again, instead of using her words, she opened her door, grabbed Meghan by the hand and led her inside. Once the door was closed and locked, Ela locked her lips with Meghan's once again as they slowly walked towards the bed. When Ela felt the back of her knees hit the edge, she fell back pulling Meghan on top of her.

Meghan finally broke the kiss and looked Ela in the eyes, she had a look of lust and desire on her face as she was biting her lip again, now she could see what she had been thinking about. "Are you sure about this?" She asked, knowing that this was a big step for them in such a short time.

Ela leaned in close, putting her lips to Meghan's ear. "I can trust you with anything, right?" She whispered.

"Of course."

"Then take me."

That was all Meghan needed to hear. She kissed Ela as passionately as she could, while they were kissing, Meghan reached for the zipper on Ela's jacket and pulled it down. Without breaking the kiss, she peeled it off of her and threw it off to the side. Next thing that needed to go was Ela's tank top, Meghan grabbed the hem and slowly pulled it up, gradually revealing Ela's midriff. Meghan broke the kiss in order to fully remove the article. Meghan took a moment to admire her girlfriends body, her pale skin tone was a beauty to behold, she placed her hand on the side of Ela's ribcage where she had been hurt before. The bruising was now completely gone and all Meghan could feel was her soft and smooth body.

Meghan traced her hand up Ela's torso until she reached the girls bra. She looked at her one more time for confirmation. Ela simply nodded for her to continue. Meghan reached behind to Ela's back and undid the hook, then she slid the undergarment off of her and threw it with the rest of her clothing.

For a while, all Meghan wanted to do was marvel at the Polish beauty. She wanted to take in every detail so she would never forget this amazing night.

"Like what you see?" Ela asked.

"You look absolutely stunning." Meghan complimented. She placed a hand on Ela's cheek, looking the girl in the eye to let her know that she truly meant what she said. Then she slowing slid her hand down, fingers tracing over her neck, then her collar bone, and stopped in between her breasts. She could feel Ela's pulse, it was racing, she was both nervous and excited.

Meghan gave her one last reassuring kiss before moving her hand to cup Ela's right breast. She began gently squeezing and groping the soft mound of flesh. She then began to lightly flick her thumb over the sensitive nipple. Ela made a few soft noises in appreciation. Meghan decided to be more daring and lowered her head to Ela's left breast and took the nipple into her mouth. Ela let out a moan as Meghan licked and sucked, which only encouraged Meghan to keep going, she decided to switch and suck on Ela's right breast and grope the left.

After a few minutes, Ela was growing restless, the two of them sat up as she reached for Meghan's t-shirt and pulled it off of her. Once it was gone, Meghan undid her bra and added it to the growing pile of cloths on the floor. Ela stared in awe, her blonde girlfriend was absolutely beautiful. Her question about the tattoos was finally answered, the patterns continued down her back, coming to a stop just past the bottom of her shoulder blades. In front, they continued along her chest, stopping right above her breasts. Her breasts, Ela was absolutely infatuated with them. She wanted to touch and play with them in the same manner as Meghan had done with her, but she was cautious to begin.

Sensing her hesitation, Meghan grabbed Ela's hand and brought it to her right breast. Ela immediately felt how soft they were and began to gently rub and squeeze the beautiful mound.

"Have a taste." Meghan encouraged.

Without anymore hesitation, Ela brought her lips to the breast she was still holding and took the nipple into her mouth. She began to slowly lick and suck, trying to replicate the pleasure that Meghan had brought her moments ago. The soft moans Meghan was letting out told her that it seemed to be working. She noticed that Meghan had started playing with her other breast, pinching and lightly pulling on her other nipple. Ela wondered if she liked it a little rough. Feeling a little daring, she lightly bit down on the nipple occupying her mouth. Meghan reacted with a gasp of pleasure, letting Ela know that she definitely enjoyed the playful bite.

This was the most erotic moment in Ela's life, and soon she couldn't take it anymore. The heat was building up between her legs and if she didn't get release soon, she would lose her mind. She stopped playing with Meghan's breast and wrapped her arms around her, bringing her lips to her ears again. "I'm ready."

It was all the encouragement Meghan needed. She laid Ela down on her back, her hands found the waistband of her pants and she slowly slid the tight fabric down her legs. Meghan took in the details of Ela's legs and waist. She couldn't help herself as she reached under and grabbed her ass that nearly everyone in Rainbow had marveled at, Ela didn't seem to mind. Now all that was left was her black thong, now Meghan was feeling a little mischievous, instead of her hands, she bit down on the fabric and pulled it off of her with her teeth. Ela was only turned on even more by the move.

Now Ela was completely exposed to the person she trusted the most, Meghan was grateful that Ela trusted her with this most precious moment. She took one last look at Ela's body, she noticed the wetness between her legs, it looked so inviting, letting Meghan know she was so ready.

Ela expected Meghan to dive right in, but instead, the blonde leaned in and gave her another kiss. She then began to ever so slowly leave a trail of kisses down her jawline, then her neck, down to her collar bone. She continued along, between her breasts, all the way down her abdomen, but just as she was approaching the spot where Ela needed it the most, she stopped.

Ela looked down at her, slightly disappointed, Meghan was smiling and gave her a wink. She spread Ela's legs, now she could see that she was dripping wet. Once again, Ela expected Meghan to go for it, only to be disappointed. Instead, Meghan started kissing the inside of Ela's right thigh, starting just above the knee, and ever so slowly trailing kisses upward one by one. And again, just as she was about to reach her sweet spot, she stopped and started again on the left thigh.

Now Ela was getting frustrated, she waited as Meghan finished leaving kisses along her thigh and was finally about reach her center, only to stop again. She looked down to see the blonde flashing an evil smile at her. "Meghan, please."

"Please what?" Meghan asked, teasingly.

"Fuck me." She begged.

Finally, Meghan placed a small kiss on Ela's precious flower, then she gave it a long lick along the opening. This was enough to send a shockwave up Ela's spine as arched her back and let out a loud moan. Meghan continued to lick her pussy, relishing the taste of the juices leaking out. The moans Ela was letting out were music to her ears. She started giving short and fast licks to her clit, adding to the pleasure that Ela was writhing in. She then took the whole bundle of nerves into her mouth and began to suck, causing Ela to practically scream in pleasure.

Meghan then brought her finger to Ela's entrance, and very gently started pushing in. Ela was so tight that Meghan had trouble getting just one finger inside of her, but managed to do so thanks to how wet she was. She began to move her finger in and out of Ela's opening, at first she moved gently and slowly, then picked up the pace once her finger was nice and slick. Ela was writhing in pleasure, this sensation being completely new to her. She put her hands on the back of Meghan's head, not wanting her to stop. This encouraged Meghan to slowly add a second finger.

Now Ela was on pure ecstasy, her back was arching and her walls were tightening, she was close. "Meghan, I'm-"

Meghan curled her fingers inside her and Ela let out one final scream. Her hips bucked and her body shook as her orgasm hit her. Meghan kept her fingers inside to prolong the sensation and let Ela ride out the feeling for even longer.

Once she had calmed down, her tight walls loosened enough for Meghan to remove her fingers. She looked at the sweet nectar that coated them and stuck them in her mouth. Ela's taste was like a drug to her, she licked her fingers clean savoring every drop. She couldn't control herself any longer, she immediately got up and pulled down her pants along with her panties. She climbed back onto the bed and positioned herself so her center was above Ela's face. She probably should have given the poor girl time to recover, but Meghan was getting restless.

Ela was still in a post orgasm haze, Meghan, not willing to wait any longer, grabbed her by the hair and pulled her face into her dripping center. After a second, Ela seemed to grasp what was happening and began licking at the wet folds. Meghan was thrown into a state of pure bliss, although Ela was clearly inexperienced, she was still doing enough magic to give Meghan the pleasure she desired.

Ela was doing her best to replicate what Meghan had done to her, being eager to return the favor. Meghan was letting out sweet moans of encouragement. The taste was strange to her but in a good way, and she enjoyed every drop that leaked into her waiting mouth.

Meghan was already getting close, having been ready for release since they started. Her hips began to buck against Ela's face as she felt her own orgasm approaching. Ela unexpectedly slipped a finger inside of her, and that was all it took to send finally send her over the edge.

"Oh god!" Meghan yelled. "I'm cumming!" Her body tensed as she released everything. Ela tried to take it all into her mouth, but there was so much that most of it ran down her chin and onto the bed.

By the time Meghan's body finally relaxed, Ela had just finished lapping up the last few drops of the savory liquid. She got off of her and finally let the girl relax. She noticed the remanence of her climax on Ela's face and couldn't help but kiss her hard, tasting herself on Ela's lips.

After making out for a few minutes, both women were able to come down from the sexual high and exhaustion finally caught up with them. Meghan pulled the girl closer to her and Ela nuzzled into the embrace.

"Thank you." Ela whispered.

Meghan didn't think thanks were necessary, but appreciated it nonetheless. "I'm happy you enjoyed it."

"I didn't think it would be so tiring."

Meghan let out a small giggle. "It can wear you out if you haven't done it in a while."

"Or ever." Ela added.

Meghan looked at the girl in surprise. "You mean…you've never…"

"You're the first." Ela smiled. "And I don't think I could have made a better choice."

Meghan was surprised, but flattered that Ela chose her to be her first, especially since they had only been together for a day. "Well, I'm glad that I didn't disappoint."

"You could never disappoint me." Ela leaned in and gave Meghan another kiss to drive her point home.

Meghan gladly returned the kiss before pulling the blanket over them. The two women stayed there cuddling and basking in each other's embrace until they fell asleep.

Tomorrow would begin a journey that would surly put both of them to the test, and they were more than ready.

* * *

Author's note: I'm not sure if I should be proud or concerned that 2000 out of a 6000 word chapter is a sex scene. Anyway, Act 2 is now done and next chapter will take us into Act 3, which will most likely be the shortest act. For those wondering, I plan on making this story six or seven acts long, so we still have quite the journey to go. As always, I hope you enjoyed and please feel free to leave a review. Until next time.


	16. Chapter 15

Author's note: Well here it is, Act 3 and just in time for the new season. Hope it lives up to expectations. Once again, shout out to RStyle, thank you for beta reading this for me. Enjoy.

* * *

What Will It Take?

Chapter 15

* * *

"Roger that…Affirmative…Understood, Orchid One out." Norman finished his transmission over the radio.

"What was that about?" Irvin asked.

"They arrived last night, they're getting set up now."

"Perfect, any orders for us?"

"Mission will commence in seventy-two hours. In forty-eight hours, we are instructed to fall back to the designated evac point right…here." He pulled out his map and pointed out a spot not too far away. "Until then, our mission stays the same, observe and give hourly reports as usual."

"So we're finally getting out of this god forsaken jungle."

"What are you talking about? I've had a great time sleeping in the bushes and getting eaten by spiders." He responded sarcastically, getting a laugh out of both of them.

"You ready to go back to your wife and kid?"

"Maybe not, when I told her I was going out on this mission and she was about ready to kill me."

"Ha, you'd rather stay with those guys down there?" Irvin commented, referring to the White Masks.

"Dude, you laugh but I'm telling you, she can be a psycho at times."

"It just means she loves you and wants you to be there for your son."

"I guess, but I'm still sleeping with one eye open."

"You'll see, eventually. You two have only been married for a year."

"Well what about you and your husband, you guys don't want to kill each other every now and then?" Norman asked.

"Oh don't get me wrong, we'll drive each other crazy, but we still see the big picture. We always work everything out in the end, I would follow him to the ends of the earth."

"That's good. So, you guys still planning on a trip to Korea when you get back."

"Yeah, we've been looking forward to it for months now."

"Should be a fun trip." Norman looked at his watch. "It's about that time, what's the situation down there?"

Irvin brought up his binoculars and looked down at the facility. Immediately, something was off. "Where is everyone?"

"Huh?" Norman brought up his pair of binoculars and looked at the theme park as well. Sure enough, instead of the usual flow of terrorists running around the compound, the headquarters was now empty, as if it had been abandoned all over again. "What the hell? Where did they all go?"

"I don't know, they were there an hour ago." Irvin said, confused. "I doubt they just packed up and left the place."

"Maybe they all went inside for a meeting." Norman suggested.

"Maybe, but they usually leave a few out for guard duty."

"Wait." Norman paused. "Do you hear something?"

* * *

"How are we looking?" Six asked.

"Well, all personnel are set up in their rooms and most of the equipment is here, just waiting on the last few boxes." Isaac elaborated.

The two of them were walking through the hotel Team Rainbow would be staying in for the duration of the operation. Six wanting to personally oversee that all people and supplies made it safely to their destination.

"And you're sure the owners are on board with this?"

"Yes. We met with the Chinees officials this morning, the owners along with all the staff have signed non-disclosure agreements. As far as everyone around here knows, we're just a group of tourists coming to visit Victoria Harbor."

"Where are the weapons and gadgets being stored in the meantime?"

"They were nice enough clear out one of the storage rooms for us in the basement."

"Is it secure?"

"Everything is under lock and key, and McConnell has at least two guards on it at all times."

"Good." They continued walking through the hotel, which was bustling with people moving papers and equipment around. "So where's the command room going to be set up?"

"The penthouse on the top floor." Isaac explained. "Regular guests aren't allowed up there with out a pass, so we should be well out of the public's view."

"Excellent, when is the first briefing?"

"Tonight, everyone should have recovered from the jet lag by then."

"Have you decided if you're going to tell them or not about Peterson?"

"Yes, I will be telling them tonight that we will be adding a third objective of capturing a high value target. However, I will be omitting my personal history with him, I don't think it's necessary for them to know."

"You don't think that Ela will tell them?" Six asked.

"Like I said, she's been keeping mostly to herself, I don't think she'll bring it up."

"Very well, but if it come down to killing him, do you think she will be able to, assuming she ends up being the one having to take the shot?"

"I'm purposely putting her on one of the bomb defusal teams in order to avoid such a conflict."

"Sounds good." The two of them continued walking around, making sure everything was in order. "And the scout team, they are reporting in as normal?"

"Yes ma'am, we last received a check in about an hour ago, should be getting another one any minute now."

"I want to be there for the next one, where's the comm room set up?"

"Right this way." He lead her down the hallway towards the hotel room where they had set up communications.

* * *

"What do you think about all this?" Elias asked as he moved his first piece.

"About what exactly?" Gilles questioned, as he moved his piece.

The two were in the middle of a chess game, being back at Hereford meant there was little to do. They were not professional or even talented chess players by any means, but they needed something to pass the time.

"Everything. The operation, the theme park, the fact that we're stuck here." The German clarified.

"Ah." The Frenchman saw what his friend was getting at. "Not too happy being left back I'm guessing."

"For a mission as big as this one, I would have much rather have gone with them." He admitted. "Especially since Shuhrat is the only one going with a shield, and that's if he decides to use it."

"What, you don't trust the others to get the job done?"

"Of course I trust them. It's just…I don't know."

"You're used to being at the front of every assault, and now here you are, as far away from the front line as possible, waiting to hear how it went." Gilles answered for him.

Elias thought on the statement and let out a small laugh. "I guess you're right."

"Trust me my friend, I know the feeling."

Gilles, Elias and Shuhrat, despite having very different personalities, had grown close over the years. Being a shield using operator was intense job even by Rainbow's standards. First off, your "weapon" was heavier than anything anyone else was carrying, accept for maybe Tachanka's DP-28. Second, your job being to intentionally have the enemy shoot you goes against every instinct of human nature, and to top it off, in most situations you rely solely on faith that your teammates will have you covered and won't allow you to get shot in the back. Faith that the layers of metal and glass would do their job and not ware out and fall apart on you. Faith that your obscured vision wouldn't lead you into a trap. It's an existence that many even among the operators could never understand.

And yet, none of them would ever trade the roll for anything else in the world. They all took pride in the fact that they were acting as a literal shield for their teammates. They took pride in leading the charge. Pride in every bullet and piece of shrapnel lodged in their shields at the end of a mission, knowing that it was better there than inside a teammate. They never fixed the defects either, keeping every scratch and dent as a reminder that each one was a potential fatality avoided, almost like a trophy.

Now, not just one but both of the operators who solely used shields were being told to sit back and wait, hoping that their team, their family really, would be okay without them. They had every confidence in everyone's capabilities no doubt, but it always felt better being there for them. At the very least they would have wanted at least one of them to go along.

"You still haven't answered the question." Elias pointed out.

Gilles thought for a moment. "Personally, for a mission as big as this one, I don't think anyone should have stayed back."

"I agree, it's not like there's anything happening back here."

"I wouldn't say that, I'm pretty much having to babysit those two." He gestured toward the other side of the lounge where Julien was clearly trying to flirt with Emma again, and again the woman was completely oblivious. "I think we should all chip in and get him an actual neon sign."

Elias laughed at the notion. "Oh, that reminds me, I should probably check on Yumiko, she isn't too happy about Masaru going without her."

"Separation anxiety?"

"I don't think so, I don't think she likes the idea of Siu going as well."

"Ah, so she's the jealous type."

"Yeah."

"She's worrying over nothing, it's not like they're going alone."

"That's what we've all been telling her."

Gilles laughed. "Everything will be fine."

"Speaking of relationships, how your wife?"

"She's doing well, Mike's wife is actually visiting France right now, and she's acting as her tour guide."

"That's nice of her, I didn't know they were friends."

"Spouses almost always end up being friends, they understand what it's like being away from a loved one for long periods of time."

"That makes sense."

"So what about you? Are you finally going to pop the question to your girl?"

"I'm still unsure." Elias admitted. "I would hate to bring her into this life of constantly moving around and not knowing what tomorrow holds."

"Well, she's been loyal to you for this long, she definitely proven herself patient enough."

"I guess. I just hope she knows what she would be getting into."

The two continued with their little chess game, not really sure who was winning.

"So what do you think about this operation?" Gilles asked

"As you pointed out, I would much rather be there. But as much as I want to go, I think Six has everything handled well enough." The German answered.

"I'm not so sure, have you noticed that Six has let Captain Isaac take almost full charge on this one? Odd, considering what's potentially at stake here."

"Maybe she's considering promoting him, since colonel Bishop retired last year."

"Maybe, but I feel like there's more they are not telling us."

"Either way, the Captain has proven himself capable both on the battlefield and in the situation room, I trust his leadership almost as much as Six."

"I guess."

"Besides, it looks like his team did their homework on this one, they seem to have everything under control." Elias moved his knight piece in front of Gilles' king. "Check."

"Well, if there's one thing I've learned over the years, it's that when you think you have everything under your control," He observed the board, looking at his options. "is when you find out that you were never really in control in the first place." He moved his bishop across the board, not only blocking the check, but trapping Elias' king as well. "Checkmate."

* * *

"Here we are." Isaac said as he opened the door to the communications room.

It was located inside one of the normal hotel rooms. The giant green radio was propped up on a table with its antenna pointed out the window. Kowalski was managing the system on his own.

"And you are sure that the enemy can't listen in on our communication." Six asked.

"Yes ma'am." Kowalski answered. "We're using state of the art encryption to cover our tracks, they'll never be able to intercept our radio traffic."

"Very well." Six acknowledged. "What about the scout team, have they checked in?"

"Any time now ma'am. They have been precise about checking in every hour on the dot."

"So in other words, in a few seconds?" Six pointed out that the clock in fact said 01:59.

"Apparently so."

The three of them waited for the radio check to come in. The clock struck 02:00…nothing. They waited for a full minute, still nothing.

"What?" Isaac was surprised.

"I thought you said they were precise." Six commented.

"They are ma'am, this is the first time this has happened." Kowalski answered.

"Try calling them." Isaac suggested.

"It could be just interference from the weather."

"I'm telling you, Norman never messes around when it comes to this kind of thing. Something's up, call them."

"It could potentially blow there cover and get them into trouble."

"How do you know they're not already in trouble?"

"It's too risky."

Isaac looked at Six. "Ma'am, it's your call."

Six considered the two options. "Let's wait five minutes and if they still haven't checked in, send them a call."

For five agonizing minutes, the three of them sat there, waiting to hear any sound come out of the radio. After what felt like an eternity, the five minute mark came, still nothing.

"Alright, send out the call." Isaac ordered.

Kowalski pulled the microphone to his face and pushed the talk button. "Orchid One, this is HQ, come in over."

They waited for a few seconds. "Orchid One, this is HQ, come in, over."

Suddenly the radio burst to life. "THEY'RE EVERYWHERE!"

Kowalski practically jumped out of his seat. "Orchid One, repeat!"

* * *

The sound of gunfire was deafening as dozens of White Masks flooded the jungle in an attempt to flush out the two scouts.

"HQ, this is Orchid One, we have been compromised." Norman yelled into his radio. "I say again, we have been compromised. Currently engaging with multiple tangos, requesting immediate evac, over."

"Roger Orchid One, proceed to the designated evac point." Kowalski's voice came over the radio. "How many tangos are you engaging, over?"

As if to answer the question, another wave of bullets came flying through the trees, ricocheting and splintering the wood as they made contact. Norman and Irvin attempted to return fire with there M4s, but the sheer number of enemies out powered them.

"I'm counting several dozen enemies, over." Norman reported.

"Roger, we're sending reinforcements to your location, over."

"Understood, we'll try to hold out until then, over."

"Fuck, where did they all come from?!" Irvin yelled.

"Probably your loud mouth, keep shooting!" Norman responded.

The two of them let out another volley of fire at their opponents, hitting a few in the process.

"There's too many, we can't stay here!" Irvin said.

"Fall back, I'll cover you!" Norman fired more rounds as Irvin ran back and away from the enemy.

"Set!" Irvin took cover behind a tree and began shooting as Norman began running back to where he was.

"Keep firing!" Norman ordered.

The enemy fighters were still converging on the two soldiers. Suddenly a distinct hiss could be heard followed by an explosion.

"They have rockets too!" Irvin shouted.

"Damnit, keep falling back!" Norman began to cover his ally again.

Irvin once again began running away from they enemy in order to gain some distance from the danger. Suddenly, two enemy combatants appeared from behind some trees in order to ambush him. Luckily, Irvin's experience and quick reaction let him gun down the two before they could hurt him. He though he was in the clear, only to see more of them coming from what he thought was a safe direction.

"No good, there behind us as well!" Irvin shouted to Norman.

"Fuck, go right instead!" Norman said as more bullets whizzed over his head. Then a rocket was fired in his direction, hitting a nearby tree and sending some of the splinters into his arm. "God damnit!"

"Moving!" Irvin began moving in the new direction. After a fair distance, he stopped and took cover behind a new tree so he could cover Norman. "I'm set, get over here!"

Norman began moving to move towards his partner, turning every few steps to shoot back at the advancing enemy. After a short run, he joined Irvin, hiding behind an adjacent tree. "They got me good back there." He said, pulling several splinters from his arm.

"Patch yourself up, quick." The incoming fire was only getting more intense, Irvin was trying his best to cover Norman as he bandaged himself. Unfortunately, as he was shooting, a bullet tore through his left shoulder. "Son of a bitch." He grabbed the wound and put pressure on it.

"I got you, put a bandage on it, quick!" Norman, having just finished bandaging his own wound, began shooting back.

More bullets and rockets began to fly all around like a swarm of mosquitos. Luckily, the trees were thick enough to absorb the incoming projectiles, for now. Norman pulled out his radio. "HQ, this is Orchid One, we're about to be overrun."

"Roger Orchid One, keep holding on, we're getting help out to you asap. Over."

"HQ, I don't know how much longer we can hold on, over."

"HQ copies all. Good luck. Out."

"Norm, did HQ just tell us to go F ourselves?"

"Pretty much Irvin." Another wave of fire came in their direction. "We have to keep moving!"

"You go first this time, I'll cover you." Irvin began shooting back while Norman ran.

Norman ran as fast as he could to the next viable piece of cover, but there were too many bullets being shot. The next thing he felt was a burning sensation in his left leg as a bullet cut through it. He fell to the ground in agony. "Fuck, they got me again!"

Irvin heard his friend's screams and rushed to his aid. "Hang in there, I got you." He lifted the man up by putting Norman's arm over his shoulders. "Let's get the hell out of here."

The two of them tried to continue escaping through the jungle. Unfortunately, Norman's injury meant that the fastest they could go was a limping pace. This also meant that since they were both moving, no one could cover them, although Norman would occasionally fire a few shots with his sidearm. The only saving grace they had was the dense jungle, with the trees and brush making it hard for the insurgents to get a clear line of sight on them.

They continued hobbling between trees for a couple minutes when another obstacle came into their path. A slope that went down about thirty feet, so steep that it could almost be considered a cliff. Normally, traversing down such an obstacle would be no challenge to either of them, but with Norman's injured leg, moving down meant Irvin would have to carry him down.

"Oh for fucks sake!" Norman yelled.

"Okay, how are we going to do this." Irvin inquired.

"Well, I'm in no condition to climb myself down if that's what you're thinking."

"Okay, I think if I lower you down gently, I can-" He was cut off as an explosion went off behind them, sending both men careening down the massive drop. Luckily the drop wasn't strait down, but the tumble downward was still anything but pleasant. Smashing into trees and rocks one after the other before coming to a stop at the bottom. If they weren't in bad shape before, they definitely were now. Norman looked himself over and saw that he now had a fracture in his arm, along with some broken ribs. Irvin was also worse for ware, having several broken ribs himself, and he didn't even need to look to know that both of his legs were broken. All either of them could do was lay there in agony.

"You still alive?" Norman asked.

"Unfortunately. You?" Irvin answered.

"Same."

They could here the White Masks closing in on them, and with their new injuries, it meant running was no longer an option.

Norman pulled out the his radio one more time. "HQ, this is Orchid One, do not send the rescue team, I say again, do not send the rescue team. Terminating comms. Out." He could hear the voice at the other end attempting to talk to him but he didn't bother to listen as he pulled out his sidearm and fired his last few bullets into the radio. At least the enemy wouldn't get a hold of their communications and hack into their signal.

With that, both of them sat and waited for the inevitable. Within moments, dozens of men wearing brown cloaks and white masks were upon them. Norman took a moment to say goodbye to his wife and son. His weapon was kicked away from him and a foot planted on his chest to keep him pinned, not that he even had the strength to struggle. He looked up to see the barrel of an AK-47 pointed directly at his face. He braced himself for the pulling of the trigger and the feeling of being sent over to Valhalla.

No such feeling came.

"Well well well, if it isn't my old friend's, Norman and Irvin."

The two wounded soldiers looked over to see none other than their former teammate. The man they used to fight alongside. The man they used to respect. The man they used to call brother. Now almost unrecognizable has he bared his own cloak and clutched his own mask in his hand, the only one in the crowd willing to show his face. Instead of looking at them like the men he once considered family, he instead looked at them as if they were his prize. "This will be fun."

* * *

Author's note: And we start of the Act with a bang. And what is this, a chapter without Ela or Meghan, how? Well I can't keep the spotlight on them all the time. Anyway, I've wanted to do a scene for both Blitz and Montagne for a while and I thought a conversation between shield operators would be interesting, let me know what you think. And yes, the battle scene is partially based off of Operation Red Wings (from the movie Lone Survivor). I'm not sure if China actually has that type of terrain, but if you look at the in game map of Theme Park there is a heavily forested area outside the park. Also I'm looking forward to the new season, I'm thinking about maining Maverick. How do you guys feel about Grim Sky? As always, I hope you enjoyed and feel free to leave a review. Until next time.


	17. Chapter 16

Author's Note: Not dead, yet at least. Sorry for the long wait and I'm really sorry that this one is so short but I hope you still enjoy regardless.

* * *

What Will It Take?

Chapter 16

* * *

 **Hereford, August 2016**

"Oh, I'm so excited!" Lena exclaimed.

"Well could you be a little less excited and keep your eyes on the road?!" Meghan yelped as Lena swerved to avoid an oncoming car.

"Whoops! Sorry luv." Lena apologized as she focused her attention back on driving.

"Are you sure you don't want me to drive?" Meghan asked.

"Oh Meghan, we both know you don't have your license to drive in England yet. Besides, you're not used to driving on the left."

"At least I'm used to not crashing."

"Oh we'll be fine, stop being over dramatic."

"Well, you've only got a learners permit, and I don't even know how you managed that."

"And how do you expect me to get any better if I don't practice."

Lena had only had her drivers permit for a couple weeks, she had been so excited that she immediately took one the cars her parents owned in order to practice. Now the two of them were driving through the streets of Hereford. Lena was enjoying the ride while Meghan clutched the handle above the window, praying that she would survive the ordeal. As if fate itself wanted to mess with her, Lena nearly crashed again after she failed to stop at a stop sign.

"Have your parents seen you drive?" Meghan asked.

"Um, not quite." Lena answered hesitantly. "I guess you can tell them how good I've gotten when you meet them." She flashed Meghan a cheeky smile.

They were on their way to meet none other than Lena's parents, who apparently lived on the other side of town. The two of them had grown close since meting three months ago, and Lena wanted to introduce her new friend to her family. Lena was extremely excited, while Meghan was mostly apprehensive.

"How about instead I tell them about that French girl you've been staring at?"

Lena's cheeks immediately turned red as her smile disappeared. "Please don't."

"Have you even spoken to her yet?"

"Well, kind of."

"What do you mean, kind of?"

"Her names Amelie, and she just moved here from Paris."

"Does her personality match the death stare she always has on her face."

"Hehe." Lena giggled. "I actually couldn't tell you because once I heard her speak I got completely lost that accent."

The way Lena had spoken was way to adorable for Meghan to handle. "Okay, now I'm definitely telling your parents."

"No! You can't, please." Lena suddenly turned serious, catching Meghan off guard.

"Why shouldn't I?"

"Well…I haven't told them I'm gay yet, and I'm not quite ready."

Meghan felt for the girl, she had yet to tell her own mother about her sexuality. "Alright, you have my word, I wont say a thing about…Amelie." She promised, botching the accent of the French woman's name.

"Thank you."

For the first time since they met, an awkward silence fell between them, Meghan decided the girl would appreciate a change of subject.

"I'm surprised you waited this long to introduce me." Meghan commented. "Did they not find it weird than some random American was hanging out with their child?"

"Oh trust me, it's not what you think."

"If you say so." Meghan conceded. "How long until we get there anyway."

"Should only be a few more minutes luv."

"Alright then."

The rest of the ride continued in relative silence, Meghan was left to her thoughts on meeting Lena's parents. She found it odd that they hadn't asked to see her sooner. Obviously, Meghan had no ill intentions, and Lena was extremely independent, but she figured any parent would find it strange that their sixteen year old daughter had been hanging out with a thirty year old woman from another country almost every day for the past three months. Maybe she was just overthinking this.

"Here we are!" Lena exclaimed as she brought the car to a stop.

Meghan looked out of her window, and her jaw nearly dropped as she saw the place. Lena was right, it definitely wasn't what she thought.

Lena got out of the car and ran up to the gate, Meghan took her time as she took in the sight. There was a large iron fence going around the perimeter of the property with rose bushes lining the bottom. Lena opened the gate and they both walked in. There was a stone path that lead up the center, they followed it for a bit while Meghan continued to take in her surroundings. Freshly cut grass had covered the entire outside area, it was clear that the place was always well maintained.

"This way." Lena said as she strayed off the path.

Meghan followed behind the girl. Now it all made sense.

Lena eventually came to a stop and sat down in the grass. Meghan caught up with her but decided to stay standing. In front of them were two headstones, two of many that lined the cemetery in rows.

"Mum, Dad, here's someone I want you to meet."

* * *

Meghan awoke with a gasp, she had no idea why that memory would resurface in her dream out of nowhere. She looked over and saw Ela laying next to her, still sound asleep. She noticed the blanket only came up to the girls waist, she pulled it up to cover her girlfriends shoulder, hopefully making her more comfortable.

Herself on the other hand, falling back asleep was now impossible. She got up and walked over to the bathroom sink and splashed some water in her face. For a while, she stood there and recalled that day, what it was like to find out that Lena was an orphan. Finding out that Lena had taken over the coffee shop as a kid in order keep the only remnants of her family alive. Meghan was the first person Lena ever "introduced" to her parents, ever since then, Meghan had been a guardian to the young girl, and practically a family member.

Suddenly, there was a frantic knock on the door, pulling Meghan from her thoughts. She walked over and answered it.

"Hey, get up and get to the briefing room, both of you." It was Craig, fully dressed in his combat attire.

"What's going on?" Meghan asked.

"Something's come up, I don't know what, but Six just called us all to a briefing. Hurry." He then walked off, supposedly to gather the rest of the team.

Meghan closed the door and walked over to her still sleeping girlfriend. "Ela, time to get up." She said as she gently shook her.

The polish girl slowly woke up. "Huh, what's going on?"

"I'm not sure, but we have to hurry."

The two of them quickly got dressed and made there way to the designated briefing room.

* * *

The room was bustling with people trying to scramble in, everybody was caught off guard so gathering everyone, most of whom were still jet-lagged, took longer than usual. There was mass confusion among all of the operators, but they knew one thing, something somewhere had gone very wrong. Six and the Captain would never call a surprise meeting like this otherwise.

"Alright everyone, quiet down." Isaac ordered. "We have a serious situation."

Everyone gave the man their undivided attention as he spoke.

"Just minutes ago, my scout team was compromised and overrun by the White Masks within the theme park." He began. "We were getting ready to send a rescue team in there to get them out, but it was too late. The last transmission we received stated that they had been overtaken and there was no point in sending the rescue team. And then the broadcast went dead." Isaac did his best not to show the pain of losing two of his oldest friends.

"What's there status, are they alive?" Gustave asked.

"We don't know." Isaac answered. "But what we do know, they're both in the park, and dead or alive, we're bringing them back."

"This also means two things." Six interrupted. "One, they now know we're coming and we can't wait any longer. And two, the objectives are going to change. Along with two bomb disables, we're adding two hostage recoveries as well."

"How are we going to handle that with only three teams?" Vicente asked.

"We've come up with a solution, and it means we're going to have to change the team compositions again. Everyone pay attention." Everyone looked as the projector lit up to display the new plan, one thing that immediately stood out was an extra team. "Alpha Team will be led by Thatcher, with IQ being secondary team leader, remaining team members are Smoke, Mira and Lesion. You guys will be inserting through the bumper cars on the west end of the park."

The five of them took note of their new team.

"Bravo Team will be led by Doc, with Blackbeard as secondary, along with Sledge, Pulse and Buck. You be on the same chopper as Alpha Team, also entering through the bumper cars."

"We wont let you down ma'am." Gustave said.

"Jager will be leading Charlie Team with frost as your secondary. Fuze, Echo and Ying will be joining you. Your team will be entering through the teacup ride to the north east."

Everyone went tense upon hearing that Shuhrat and Siu would be on the same team, but it was too late to change anything now.

"Finally, Delta Team will Be led by Valkyrie, Thermite will be secondary along with Ash, Jackal, and Ela. You will be entering through the main entrance."

Meghan felt some relief that despite the team changes, her plan of attack remained almost unchanged. They would still be hitting the main entrance and if necessary, go through the side staircase, just like in the practice runs.

"What about us?" Timur asked, gesturing to the three remaining operators.

"Yes, Glaz, Tachanka and Capitao. I have a special assignment for you three." Isaac spoke up. The projector image changed to a satellite image of the park along with the surrounding jungle, there was a small area circled in the jungled area. "The spot you're looking at is where my scouts were hiding while gathering intel on this place. It's also the area in which they just had a massive shootout with our enemy and were captured. They had with them a very important piece of equipment." The image changed again to showcase a green medium-sized device. "A Talon-0621 radio system. This radio is capable of sending and receiving encrypted messages that only we can hear, it was how we managed to communicate with them without the enemy listening in."

"Maskaradnyy." Alexandr commented.

"Now, we had a protocol in place for situations like this." Isaac continued. "Should the radio be at risk of falling into enemy hands, the user was to destroy it. Although I'm confident that my radio operator followed through with this, I need you to verify that the radio was in fact terminated."

"Why is this so important?" Vicente asked.

"Because the encryption capabilities of this radio lie within its coding and hardware. If it falls into enemy hands, they could recreate it, thus they would have the ability to listen in on every single one of our communication channels."

"What makes you think it's still there and not in the park?" Timur questioned.

"They were most likely focused on taking care of the scouts. They will probably send a cleanup crew later to gather their dead and any equipment later, hopefully we can get to the sight before that happens."

"Even if they did take it with them, we will eventually find it in the park regardless." Six added.

"Once you've searched the area, you will take up an overwatch position, the same one my scouts had." Isaac continued, "When you're there, you will provide sniper and machine gun support for the rest of the raid."

"We'll get it done." Timur acknowledged.

"Now that they know we're coming, they're probably moving everything around." Isaac stated. "So now we have no idea where the bombs are, or where out two missing soldiers are being held."

"That's the bad news." Six added. "The good news, the rules are now even simpler, each team gets a defuser, if you find a bomb, disable it, if you find a hostage, get them out of there."

"Now the stakes are even higher than before. If we don't succeed here, they'll move the bombs to another location, and we'll never be able to find them again before it's too late. If those things go off, it will be Las Vegas all over again."

All of the operators reminisced about the incident from seven years ago. None of them were there for it, but everyone remembered watching their T.V. screens as the worst terrorist attack took place on U.S. soil since 9/11. The old Team Rainbow had failed to defuse a bomb in one of Las Vegas' sports stadiums, hundreds of civilians died as a result. It was also a factor that lead to the deactivation of Team Rainbow until the current Six convinced the UN to reactivate it five years later.

"Disable those bombs, bring my soldiers back, and remember, Rainbow always comes home alive. Good luck." Isaac said.

"When are we now slated to go?" Meghan asked.

"In 20 minutes." Isaac answered. "Everyone get your gear and get on the choppers. Go!"

Everyone quickly left the room and made their way to the armory, leaving Isaac and Six alone.

"You didn't tell them about Peterson." Six mentioned.

"There's already enough confusion and enough objectives to deal with." Isaac explained. "Plus, now he's taken them. They used to call that man their brother!" He yelled, his anger and pain getting the best of him. "As far as I'm concerned, he's now just another one of those mask wearing psychopaths, deserving no less than whatever happens to him once they're in there." He held his expression of anger as he looked out the window towards the direction of the park. He took a moment to reflect on everything. Meeting him along with the others back in 2003, fighting together for four years until the fateful day. Even with most of their squad gone they would still serve together, even helping with the reactivation of Rainbow. Until two years ago when he, like Bosak, suddenly cut ties and left. Now all he could hear was the screams of Norman and Irvin over the radio as they called for help, and then the realization that help wouldn't make it in time, followed by the haunting silence of the line going dead. "My only regret is that I won't be going in there myself."

Minutes later, all twenty-three operators were on board their respective helicopters and in the air.

Operation Blood Orchid had officially begun.

* * *

Author's note: So I originally wanted to have this chapter and the next be one big piece but I've been having serious writers block. Not only am I having trouble writing some of the parts but I'm also having trouble making parts I do have flow well. It also doesn't help that I'm now working longer hours until the holidays. So I figured you guys waited long enough and released what I have so far. On a side note, I have also "retired" from playing siege, the current season is not living up to what I expected and I just don't have fun playing it anymore. However, I still love this story and have every intent on working on it just as much as I always have so don't worry about that. As always, I hope you enjoyed and feel free to leave a review. Until next time.


	18. Chapter 17

Author's note: The wait is finally over! Here it is, Operation Blood Orchid, all 12,000 words of it. Really big shout out to RStyle, who not only beta-read, but co-wrote this chapter and helped me get through my writers block. Seriously, without you, not only would this chapter have taken longer, but it would not have been as good or as long as it is. You're awesome! As for you readers, i'm sorry I made you guys wait so long, I hope that this will have been worth it, enjoy!

* * *

What Will It Take?

Chapter 17

* * *

"Shoreline coming into view."

"Copy Delta three-eight."

The China sky roared with the engines of four Sikorsky UH-60 Blackhawk helicopters, callsign: Delta Squadron, flying west from Victoria Harbor. The pilots kept in solid formation to ensure they would arrive at their drop points simultaneously. Their target located on the coast just past the beach, their passengers ready.

"Feet dry in ten seconds."

"Copy."

Suddenly the air came alive with rockets and machinegun fire.

"Taking fire here." One of the pilots calmly stated.

"Roger that, we've got RPG's down there."

All four helicopters managed to fly past the armada without any major damage.

"Shit that was close."

"Got a visual on the target."

All of the aircraft veered to the right as they converged onto the target building.

"Five seconds. Standby for greenlight."

All of them came to a stop and hovered in place above their designated areas. Two ropes were dropped from each chopper.

The omnipresent red light shut off to give way to a bright green one. The jumpmaster gestured with his hands to both doors that were opened moments prior on opposing directions, "Down the rope, GO GO GO!"

* * *

 **Alpha Team**

One by one, the operators exited the helicopter and slid down the rope down to the ground below. Once they were all safely on the ground, the ropes were cut and the helicopter flew away before their enemies had a chance to rearrange themselves and attack them again. For a brief moment, they all took in the scenery, after weeks of looking at satellite images and training on a fake course, it was a moment of clarity to finally see the real thing, everything that they had been training for will finally be culminated in this hour.

"Everyone on me, move!" Mike ordered. Everyone followed the team leader, weaving their way through the broken down bumper cars. "Alpha team, take the right door way, stack up for breach."

The five of them gathered in a line right outside the barricaded door. Monika stepped up and placed a breaching charge on the wooden planks. "IQ, hit it."

The German pressed the detonator and resulting explosion instantly obliterated the barricade allowing the team to rush in. Mike was the first inside and immediately noticed two men who appeared to be dazed by the explosion and a third man already on the ground, apparently killed by the breaching charge. He quickly fired his weapon at the first man, killing him, James was right behind him and simultaneously fired a burst into the second man.

"That's three down." James said.

"Loading bay clear, moving to the gargoyle room." Mike reported.

Once again they all stacked on the door to the next room. "Flashbang out." Mike threw in the explosive and waited for it to go off before running in.

This time there were a several White Masks inside the room ready to defend it, those who managed to avoid the flashbang immediately began firing at the attackers. Mike and James took cover behind two of the statues inside the room and began firing back.

"Watch the room on the right!" James warned.

"We're on it." Monika said as she and Elena stormed into the adjacent room. There was a single man inside, ready to flank the team but Elena was to quick as she fired a quick burst into his chest.

The noise had attracted the attention of other White Masks as two more tried to come in from the next room to aid their allies. Unfortunately for them, Liu had been watching the entryway and managed to cut them down before they could do anything.

There were still several terrorists taking cover behind a larger statue near the back of the room, they were shooting at Mike who was pinned behind cover. Monika grabbed one of her grenades and pulled the pin. "Frag grenade out!" She screamed. Seconds later, an explosion went off followed by the noise of shrapnel filling the room, silencing the gun fire and one of the men was even sent flying across the room. Monika walked up to the bodies, confirming that they were dead.

"That's one for the highlight reel." James commented, tapping next to the camera on his vest.

"Moving to the haunted room." Mike directed. "Forget using the door, get a breacher on that wall."

Monika placed another charge on the unreinforced wall leading to the next room, they all got a safe distance away when she blew open a new entryway. Several enemy combatants were poised to ambush anyone who came in through the door but were caught off guard as their flank was exposed. The team made quick work of them as they rushed into the parks haunted dining room. There were two more taking cover behind the counter in the middle of the room, James tossed one of his signature canisters and set it off. All they had to do was wait for the coughing to stop and the gas to clear.

"Room clear, onto the next one." Mike once again taking charge. "Let's move we don't have much time."

"Alpha team, this is Doc, watch your fire to the west." Gustave's voice came over the radio. "Bravo team is moving through rooms adjacent to yours, we don't want anyone to get caught in the crossfire."

"Roger that Bravo team, we'll watch out for you." Mike responded before focusing back at the matter at hand. There were two barricaded doors to choose from, remembering the training course, he knew one lead to the "execution room", the other lead to a hallway. He decided to go with the hallway, Bravo team could have the execution room. "Take down that barricade."

"Wait." Monika interrupted. "I hear something."

Everyone quieted down to see what she was talking about. Sure enough, there was a faint beeping noise coming from the other side. Monika pulled out her electronics detector and swept the doorway. Instantly, the device began to ping several items on the other side, and they were moving. "Bomber."

"Well that makes things a little more interesting." Elena said sarcastically.

"Don't worry luv, I've got this." Mike reassured. "Smoke, would you like to do the honors?"

"Always my pleasure sir." James responded, already knowing the plan. He stepped up with a crowbar and loudly tore down the cheap wood catching the attention of the suicide bomber. "Oi! Would you like to buy some girl scout cookies you fuckin wanker!"

Like an agitated animal, the bomber rushed strait towards James and the rest of the team, detonator in hand. He stormed into the doorway, right in the middle of the five of them, ready to end everyone including himself. Just then a distinct bang went off right as the man was about to click the detonator, nothing happened accept all the lights shut off at once. Mike had set off one of his EMP grenades as the bomber ran in, he stood there with his arms crossed, impressed with his own timing.

The operators could see the sheer panic on the man's eyes through his white mask. James wasn't sure, but he probably even heard a faint whimper from the absolute unit before him.

"Better luck next time mate." James said as he raised his shotgun and pumped the man full of buckshot at point blank range.

"Nicely done." Liu commented.

"Thanks mate." Mike said. "Keep moving." He gestured forward with an open hand.

The five continued down the hallway towards the arcade.

"Lockers clear."

"Stairway clear."

"Left side clear."

"Bathroom clear."

"IQ, Lesion, Smoke, stay here" Mike ordered. "Get a breaching charge on that wall and wait for our signal. Mira, with me."

The two moved through the bathroom.

"Contact, behind the hockey table!" Elena shouted.

Two enemy combatants were taking cover behind an air hockey table along with packages filled with drugs.

"Nitro out." Elena threw one of her nitro cells across the room and immediately pulled out the old cellphone used as a detonator. The two men were blown up before they had a chance to fire at the duo.

"Room clear. Get behind the table." Mike ordered as he peered into the next room. "I think I see it. Flash out!" He threw another flashbang into the adjacent room. "IQ, go!"

On the other side of the room, Monika detonated her breaching charge. The three of them rushed in through the opening as Mike and Elena rushed in from the side door. The attack from two fronts combined with the flash and breaching charge caught the White Masks off guard, there was little they could do as they were cut down by the elite team of operators.

"Drug lab clear." Liu reported.

"Well what do we have here?" Mike questioned sarcastically. Sure enough, in the middle of the room was a large yellow device with blinking lights. Mike pulled out his radio. "HQ this is Alpha Team we've located a bomb."

"Copy that Alpha Team, bomb one located, go ahead and plant your defuser now." Came a response back.

"Alpha Team this is Jager, we have the White Masks on the run, unfortunately they seem to on the run towards your location, over."

"Roger that, thanks for the heads up." Mike responded. "Smoke, Mira, Lesion, set up defenses while I plant this thing." He pulled out his teams defuser and began typing in the activation code.

Meanwhile, the others started setting up, reinforcing the walls and setting up their gadgets in key positions.

"Dufuser planted, sixty seconds till bomb deactivation!"

"Just in time." Elena commented as she peered through one of her windows. A group was making their way towards the drug lab. She stood up and fired through the soft part of the wall, immediately dropping three of them, the last one biting the dust just as the last .45 ACP round available was expelled from her Vector.

Liu heard a shout of pain came from the bathroom, he peered through the doorway to find a man attempting to remove a poison needle from his ankle. Unfortunately for him, the distraction allowed Liu enough time to fire a burst into his chest.

"Thirty seconds!"

Another group attempted to rush the room through the larger doorway. Monika and James both held a solid angle on the entryway. They each all but emptied their weapons into the group, dropping all of them before they could even get close to the defuser.

"Another group incoming, I don't think I can take them all." Elena shouted as she tried to shoot through the wall only to receive a burst of fire in return.

"Let me give it a try." Monika said. By now a considerable sized hole had been broken into the wall. She pulled out her last frag grenade, pulled the pin and tossed it through. From Elena's window, they enjoyed the show as the grenade went off.

"Fifteen seconds!"

"Another large group incoming!" Elena reported.

"I got this, hold your breath." James said calmly. He clicked the switch on his detonator and several of his canisters went off at once, ingulfing the doors and hallways. Coughing and choking filled the area, followed by the sound of weapons and bodies dropping to the ground.

Shots and explosions could be faintly heard coming from other areas of the compound, but the immediate area fell into an eerie silence.

"Three…two…one. Bomb defused." Mike reported. "Good job everyone, area looks clear but hold positions, in case we get any stragglers." He pulled out his radio again to report the success to HQ.

"Nice call with those canisters." Liu commented. "I guess they are just as deadly as ever."

"If not more so." James added.

"Thanks for backing me up there." Elena said to Monika.

"No problem." Monika replied.

"I guess all those training runs paid off, this wasn't as difficult as I thought it would be."

"For us at least, Lets hope that everything is going smoothly for the others as well."

* * *

 **Bravo Team**

"Bravo Team on the ground, moving to target building." Gustave reported. They moved alongside Alpha Team through the bumper cars to the main building. There were two doors leading in, both barricaded, Alpha team took the right door while Bravo took the left. "Stack up."

Jack pulled out his heartbeat sensor and took a moment to scan the walls. "Counting two."

"Buck, Blackbeard, get ready." Gustave ordered. "Sledge, hit it."

The Scotsman raised his hammer and swung with all his might, instantly turning the wooden barricade into splinters. The two terrorists inside were ready for a fight but Craig and Sebastien were quick on the draw. With precision, both men simultaneously fired two rounds from their DMRs, killing both targets at once.

"Moving in." Gustave and Jack lead the team inside, their MP5 and UMP better suited for close quarters.

"Clear on the right."

"Clear on the left."

The five of them moved toward the back on the room. Two more White Masks suddenly ran in, seemingly to check to see what was going on. They didn't even have time to react as Jack and Gustave both let out a burst of fire into each of them.

"Room clear, move up." Gustave ordered.

"Check your fire, remember we're looking for hostages as well." Craig reminded.

"Gallery clear." Jack reported.

The five of them moved through the room with various paintings of vampires and other monsters hung up on the walls. There was a commotion to the north as they moved and several bullets came through the walls, luckily going way above their heads, Seamus reacted and was about to fire back when Gustave intervened, pushing his gun down.

"Hold your fire, that sounded like Thachers doing." He pulled out his radio. ""Alpha team, this is Doc, watch your fire to the west. Bravo team is moving through rooms adjacent to yours, we don't want anyone to get caught in the crossfire."

"Roger that Bravo team," Came Mikes response. "we'll watch out for you."

"Moving to the coffin room." Jack stated as he approached the door. He peeked his head around the corner only to be greeted by a hail of bullets, he pulled away just in time. "Jeeze."

"I got you." Craig said as he threw in a flashbang. After hearing it go off he peeked around the doorway. A bullet quickly lodged itself into his rifle shield, fortunately this allowed his to spot the perpetrator and fire several rounds into his chest.

"Moving." Gustave and Seamus ran inside, to the left was a hallway used for storing props for the park. The two of them moved along there while Jack, Craig and Sebastien moved through the coffin room.

More enemies began pouring in through one of the service corridors. The operators took cover behind some of the props and furniture as they engaged with the combatants, quickly killing several of the lesser trained fighters. A few more tried to move though the prop hallway, hoping to get a flank on their opponents, they did not expect to see it already being covered by the other two operators on the team. Gustave and Seamus quickly cut them down before they had a chance to harm their allies.

"They keep coming from that corridor!" Gustave shouted.

"I'll take care of it." Seamus answered. He quickly got up and ran to the doorway, as he approached, another enemy came around the corner. Instead of using his weapon, Seamus quickly wielded his hammer and smashed the unfortunate man across the face. Once the man went down, Seamus pulled out one of his frag grenades and threw it inside.

"Grenade!" A man shouted right before an explosion was heard and several cries of pain. Seamus threw in one more for added measure. A body went flying out of the door, almost hitting Seamus after the second explosion shook the walls.

"Corridor is clear." Seamus reported.

"Show off." Gustave said as he walked up with his own wooden barricade and placed it on the doorway. "That should slow them down."

The other three operators were already stacked up on the remaining door. "Execution room is next." Craig stated.

"Lets do it." Gustave ordered.

Sebastien readied his skeleton key and fired three shots, breaking the barricade. All five men rushed in, instead of a room full of enemies, they saw just a single man lying on the ground.

"Hold your fire, is that…?" Gustave approached the man when suddenly another jumped around the corner, weapon sighted at Gustave's head.

Craig already had his Desert Eagle drawn and ready, he fired a single round into the mans chest, the 50AE round going through the man as if he wasn't even there, ending his life instantly. "Room clear."

"I owe you a drink when we get back." Gustave said as he focused back to the man on the floor. His hands were tied and had clearly been beaten badly. Gustave took a closer look at the mans face. "Norman?"

"I know this isn't the best time, but do you have anything for having the living shit beat out of you?"

"That's definitely Norman." Craig commented.

Gustave let out a small laugh. "How's this?" He pulled out his stim pistol and injected it into the Normans leg.

"Shit, what did you put into this thing?" Norman said as he felt some relief from the pain.

Gustave chuckled as he tucked his stim pistol away in a pouch, "It's a secret".

"That'll do."

Gustave and Sebastien picked up Norman and began to leave the building the way that they came. "Delta Squadron, this is Bravo team, we have one of the hostages, he is in need of immediate medical attention. We are coming out on the southeast side of the building, requesting MEDEVAC, over."

"Bravo Team, this is Delta zero-seven, we're coming in to get you."

"Roger, we're exiting the building now."

The five man team hobbled their way outside through the same door they came in, just in time to see one of the Blackhawks flying in and getting ready to land. Sebastien waved at the pilot to get their attention. Just as the helicopter was making its final approach, bullets began ricocheting off of its armored hull. A rocket flew overhead, missing the tail rotor by a few feet, white smoke began billowing out of one of the engines as red lights and alarms began going off inside the cockpit.

"Bravo Team, disregard. We are taking heavy fire and cannot provide exfil at this time."

"Roger zero-seven, wave off."

The aircraft took off again, getting hit with another volley of bullets and narrowly avoiding another rocket. Not wanting to take anymore damage, the pilot immediately flew east, leaving the hostile airspace.

"HQ, this is Delta zero-seven, we cannot risk taking anymore hits, we are returning to base for repairs, over."

Bravo Team watched in disappointment as the chopper left, knowing Norman was in serious need of medical treatment. Then another voice came over the radio.

"Bravo Team, this is Delta four-zero, there are multiple hostiles on the roof with machine guns and RPGs. We cannot land until they are taken out, over."

"Well how the hell to they expect us to do that?" Jack asked.

"This is Echo Team, I think we can provide assistance." Now it was Timur's voice coming through the radio.

Over in the far side of the park concealed in the brush of the jungle, three more operators lay in wait.

"Overwatch in position." Timur reported, he laid on the ground, looking through the scope of his rifle. Vicente and Alexandr waiting next to him, their LMGs ready to go. "Multiple targets spotted on the roof, open fire on my go."

The two machine gunners braced against their weapons, ready to unleash hell. Timur began lining up a shot through his scope, picking a target, a man carrying an RPG, waiting for one of the helicopters to fly within range. He lined up the reticle, being sure to compensate for range, wind and elevation. He took a deep breath in, gently blew the air out, waited for his heartbeat to steady and slowly pulled the trigger.

The crack of the sniper could be heard as the bullet whizzed to its target, instantly breaking the sound barrier at 2,700 feet per second. Hitting the man square in the face, the round was so powerful it shattered his mask into several pieces. He was dead before his body hit the ground.

The others on the roof saw what happened and immediately began searching the tree line for the sniper, only to be met with a hail of bullets from two machine guns. Some had time to take cover behind the vents and other structures on the roof, others were not so fortunate. Those out in the open were easy pickings for the two gunners, those behind cover were not. However, every now and then, one would foolishly peek his head around in an attempt to spot the attackers, only to be picked off by the more precise Russian sniper.

Eventually the gunners had to reload, this was when the White Masks took their chance. They began to fire back at the overwatch team, but they had a plan for this as well.

"I'm glad to see you finally decided to carry more of those." Timur commented.

"These things aren't cheap." Vicente responded. He raised his crossbow loaded with smoke rounds and fired several bolts across the way onto the roof. "Na mosca."

Within seconds, the top of the building was engulfed and the shooting stopped, the terrorists unable to see. This was not the case for Timur however, with the thermal detection capabilities of his scope, he could still see the enemy clear as day. One by one, they were picked off by the sniper, when one would refuse to even peak from cover, Vicente would lob a fire bolt on top of them. Soon, the roof was clear.

"Rooftop all clear." Timur reported. "You should be free to land."

"Roger that." One of the pilots responded. "Delta six-two coming in for exfil."

Less than a minute later, another Blackhawk came in to land in the same spot as the first, only this time it wasn't being shot at. Bravo Team quickly made their way to the chopper and opened the door. Norman was gently loaded in followed by Jack, Craig, Seamus and Sebastien, Gustave remained on the ground.

"What are you doing?" Craig asked.

"They might still need me in there." Gustave responded. He turned around to go back when someone grabbed his shoulder.

It was Norman. "Irvin is still in there, he's alive." Was all he said before he let go and the helicopter took off to get him to the hospital.

"This is Delta six-two, first package extracted, returning to base now."

Gustave watched as they flew off into the distance before turning around and making his way back inside.

* * *

 **Charlie Team**

As soon as all the operators were on the ground they were moving to the building, not wasting any time.

"That way, up the ramp." Marius ordered.

The team made their way up a ramp on the side of the building that lead to the second floor. Upon reaching the top they saw they were provided with two options, a door on the left and a door on the right.

"Let's see, door number one or door number two?" Tina asked.

"Or, we could choose door number three." Siu mentioned as she pointed to the wall in between the two barricades.

"Good idea." Marius agreed. "Hit it with a candela first."

Siu then proceeded to place a breach charge on the wall followed by one of her signature gadgets. After a couple seconds the audible pops could be heard, to which she then blew the charge. The hole led to the inside of one of the train cars, with a few blinded combatants. The team quickly made quick work of the men while they couldn't see.

"Alright, lets head in." Marius commanded. "Riot shield at the front."

Everyone waited for Shuhrat to take point, only to realize the operator was nowhere to be found.

"Fuze! Where the hell are you?!" Marius yelled.

"What's that psychopath up to?" Siu questioned.

Suddenly the operator in question dropped from the awning above their heads, acting as if nothing had happened.

"What on earth were you doing?" Masaru asked.

"Backup plan." The Russian simply stated.

"What the hell are you talking about?! What backup plan?!" Siu was clearly frustrated given she already hated the man.

"Now, now, it's never a bad idea to have a backup plan." Masaru stated, clearly not realizing that the rest of the team wasn't annoyed by the backup plan but by the fact that Shuhrat had pretty much gone rogue.

"Enough!" Marius yelled. "Now take point!"

Shuhrat walked into the now cleared train car, exiting through the right door, upon which he and his shield started taking fire. "Contact, other end of the tracks." An enemy machine gun team had set up and had the entire walkway covered. They were currently trying to take out the shield user, to no avail.

"I've got this." Siu said as she threw out another candela, setting the timer to a delayed detonation. The device rolled over to the feet machine gun team before going off. The two of them immediately covered their eyes after being blinded. This gave the team an opening to return fire, Marius and Siu firing their rifles each killing one of the enemy.

"Move up."

The five of them moved deeper into the building to a doorway on the right. In front of them was the daycare room, to the left was the bunk room where the occupants slept. They decided to search the daycare first.

"Masaru, check it out." Marius said.

"On it." He threw out one of his yokai drones and steered it under the door way. He immediately saw five terrorists inside. He sent his drone up to the ceiling and hit them with a few ultrasonic blasts, disorienting all of them. He gave the hand signal to Tina, who used her crowbar to tear down the barricade. All five then rushed inside, within just a few seconds, each picked out a target and fired. In one quick moment, the room was clear.

"Ying, Frost, stay here, the rest of you with me."

The team then left through door opposite of the one they came in. "Check the ice-cream shop."

Shuhrat led the three of them in as they looked in the corners and behind the counter tops, finding nothing. "Room clear."

Now they had reached the side entrance to the bunk room. "Stack up." Marius said as he pulled out his radio. "Ying, get ready."

"Ready." She reported back.

"Fuze, the door." The Russian placed a breaching charge followed by one of his cluster charges. He immediately set off the cluster, they waited for all five explosions to go off. "GO!"

The three men set off the breaching charge on the door, simultaneously, the two women set off their own charge from inside the daycare. The cluster charge had done a good job off clearing the room, the remaining combatants inside were still disoriented from the explosions, they had no chance as they were rushed from two fronts.

"Room clear, and look what we found." Tina commented.

Sure enough, in the middle of the room, was the second bomb, ready to unleash hell.

"Perfect." Marius once again pulled out his radio. "HQ, this is Charlie Team, we found one of the bombs, starting the defuser now." He put the radio away and addressed the team. "Set up defenses and start the defuser."

The defensive operators to set up their gadgets in different strategical places while Siu worked on activating the defuser. Tina set up a trap at each entrance, including the one they had made with the breach charge. Marius set up an ADS on each wall, while Masaru positioned his yokai drones, one remaining in the day care and one in the main hallway overlooking the staircase. They also re-barricaded the doorways in order to slow down any potential attackers.

"I'm going to lie down for a bit, yokai can take care of them." It's important for an operator to stay relaxed in high intensity situations, but some of the other operators were concerned that maybe Masaru was too relaxed in combat. On more than one occasion, they had found him asleep in the middle of the mission.

"Defuser active." Sui reported.

"We've got company." Masaru brought up. "Entering the day care now."

The others looked through the opening in the wall to see a small group of White Masks had come into the room across from them. The two groups immediately began to take cover and exchange gun fire. Masaru hit several of them with an ultrasonic blast, this disoriented them enough for Tina to pick off a couple with her SMG.

"There's more of them behind that bookshelf." Masaru said.

"I got them." Siu replied as she raised her LMG and began shooting through the wooden cover, shredding all that foolishly hid behind it.

Bullets began coming through one of the wooden barricades, causing Marius to keep his head down. After several more bullets, the wood shattered. "They're coming from the hallway!" He shouted to Masaru.

"Roger." Masaru switched to the feed from his other yokai, sure enough there were several more enemies moving toward their position. He shot another blast at the men, causing them to stumble. Meanwhile, Shuhrat stepped into the now open doorway, using his shield to block the incoming bullets and return fire with his pistol. Marius used this opportunity to shoot back, using Shuhrat as a literal human shield. The disorientation meant that the terrorists weren't able to shoot strait, making them easy targets for the Russian and German operators. Somehow, one of them made it all the way to Shuhrat's shield, unfortunately for the man, the Russian was no push over, literally. The terrorist tried to slam into the operator in an attempt to knock him over, Shuhrat not only stayed in place, but instead knocked the attacker away causing him to fall on his back. The last thing he saw was the brunt end of the riot shield being slammed into his face. Shuhrat had crushed the man's head in a single hit with his shield, the mask he wore was broken in half and what was left underneath could only be described as a bloody pulp.

The sound of the other barricade breaking caught Tina's attention. She turned just in time to see another White Mask entering the room, and step right onto one of her welcome mats. He immediately dropped his weapon and went down screaming in pain as he tried in vain to pull himself free from the trap, which was meant for taking down bears. The scene was so pathetic that Tina didn't even bother shooting the man. Instead she walked up to him and hit him in the head with the broad side of her pistol, knocking him out instantly. "Maybe will get some information out of him." She thought.

Marius looked over at Siu. "How much longer on that defuser?" He asked.

"Just ten more seconds." She responded.

"Perfect."

"Fuck you!"

A voice caught Marius' attention. He looked over and out the door, at the other end of the hall stood another White Mask member. In his hands was not a rifle, but a Rocket Propelled Grenade, and it was pointed right at him.

"Burn in hell!" He shouted as he pulled the trigger, sending the rocket screaming down the hallway and strait into the room where the Rainbow operators were defending, on a perfect trajectory to hit Marius square in the face.

The rocket entered the room, ready to detonate. Just then, Marius' Active Defense System came to life and in an instant shot one of its projectiles into the moving rocket, breaking it in half, ergo deactivating the explosive. Marius was unfazed and just stood there, unimpressed as the remnants of the rocket flew past him and landed on the floor.

As for the shooter however, the man was clearly inexperienced in the knowledge and handling of rocket launchers. Otherwise he would have known that the concussion from firing one of those things indoors is comparable to being hit over the head with a baseball bat. All he could do was stumble around and gasp for air, unable to bare the suffering caused by his own mistake. Marius shook his head as he pulled out his pistol and shot him in the chest.

"Bomb defused." Siu reported.

"Excellent! I'll report it to HQ." Marius said as he pulled out the radio.

While everyone took the time to celebrate the success of their part of the mission, Siu took a moment to look around the room. It looked like it was originally an office of some sort, now it was littered with sleeping bags and other furnishings that made it clear that multiple people were now using this space as their living quarters. It honestly looked miserable, how badly would someone have to believe in the cause of this organization in order to be willing to live like this?

Near the back of the room, she noticed that someone had stacked an old desk and some file cabinets together, probably in order to create at least some form of privacy. Curious about the setup , she decided to have a closer look. As she walked around the makeshift wall, she was taken by surprise as a lone figure stood and delivered a punch to her face. The surprise blow disoriented her as her weapon was knocked from her hands and onto the floor, followed by an arm wrapped around her neck. She then felt a distinct piece of metal being pushed to her temple, clearly a pistol. She struggled as hard as she could to get out of the vice like grip, but it was no use.

Everyone turned around and saw their newest operator being held at gunpoint. The whole time they were fighting, one of the White Masks was in the room with them, hiding behind his makeshift barricade.

"Nobody move, or I'll kill her!" He shouted.

Everyone had their weapons raised, but the man was smart, he made sure to hide his head behind Siu's, no matter how good of a shot these operators were, there was no way they could hit him without the risk of hitting their teammate.

"Easy now. There's no need for this." Marius tried to calm the man. "Let her go."

"After what you just did to my brothers, give me one reason why I shouldn't paint the walls with her brains."

"Because unlike the others, you still have a chance." Tina spoke up. "You can still live, no one else has to get hurt. Just put the gun down."

"I don't think you realize the situation." The man sounded like he was crazy, possibly on some of the drugs they were hoarding down stairs. "You are not in control here."

"Don't be a fool, just stand down while you still can." Masaru tried to reason.

"Shut up! All of you put down your weapons!" He yelled. "And no sudden movements either."

Seeing as they had no choice, the four operators slowly placed their weapons on the floor, including their sidearms. They had to come up with a plan, and fast, but they also had to keep the man calm enough so he couldn't kill Siu.

"You, the shield as well!" He gestured to Shuhrat. "I saw what you did with that thing, you monster!"

Shuhrat complied, slowly letting his riot shield slip off of his arm as it clanked onto the floor.

"What's that in your hand?! Drop it!" Everyone looked and saw that the Spetsnaz did in fact have something clutched in his hand.

"It's not a weap-"

"I SAID FUCKING DROP IT!" The terrorist shouted as he pushed his gun harder into the side of Siu's head.

Shuhrat looked at the man, then at Siu, as much as she tried to hide it, she was scared, she knew that this could very well be the moment that she died.

"If you say so." He responded. He opened his hand and let the object fall to the floor. It was a detonator, and it hit the floor button first.

It all seemed to happen in slow motion. Suddenly, a large metal tube broke through the window behind the man, he turned to see what on earth was going on in time to see it begin spitting out what looked like hockey pucks, all landing at his feet. In an instant, Shuhrat managed to close the gap between him and the hostage taker. While he was distracted, the Russian swiped the gun away from Siu's head and delivered a punch to the terrorists face, freeing Siu from his grip. Once she was free, Shuhrat grabbed her by the flak jacket and pulled back over the makeshift wall. The other three operators instinctively dropped to the ground, well aware of what was coming next.

"WHAT THE FU-" was all they heard before five explosions went off, one at a time, all of them thankfully contained behind the barricade. As if to add emphasis that the man was in fact dead, the mask he wore came flying over and landed next to Shuhrat and Siu.

Shuhrat still held onto Siu tight, making sure that she was alright and safe. No one really wanted to see what was left of the guy behind the barricade.

"What the hell was that?" Siu asked.

"The backup plan." Was his simple response. He picked up the now charred and bloody mask and handed it to her. "Souvenir?"

Siu could only stare at the man, how he managed to calculate the need for that cluster charge was beyond her, maybe he wasn't as stupid as everyone thought. "How did you know the bomb would even be in here?"

"I didn't." He responded. "I thought this was the hostage room." Siu couldn't tell if the man was joking or not, but she figured that either way there was probably a huge grin underneath that helmet and mask.

"Are you alright?" Marius asked as Tina and Masaru helped the two of them to their feet.

"Yes, thankfully." Siu answered as she breathed a sigh of relief.

"Thank goodness." Marius pulled out his radio again. "HQ this is Charlie Team, second bomb has been defused."

"Everyone okay here?" A new voice had entered the room.

"Doc!" Marius greeted. "We're fine."

Gustave looked over at the remains of the White Mask. "Oh la vache! What happened there?"

"Don't worry about it. How's Bravo Team?"

"They're good." He answered. "We got one of the hostages, they flew out with him."

"Excellent. We just defused one of the bombs, Alpha team got the other one."

"Great. Things are looking good so far."

Suddenly a frantic voice came over the radio. "Doc, this is Delta Team, we need you over here now!"

"That was Thermite." Gustave noticed. "Delta Team, this is Doc, I'm on my way to your position."

* * *

 **Delta Team**

"Everyone set?" Meghan asked, more to herself than to anyone else. Yes she's been in dangerous operations before, she's almost got herself killed multiple times despite her perfectionist nature, and she always shrugged it off. But there was never so much in stake, at least not ever since she joined Team Rainbow. They had trained for days, but this time, the hostile forces weren't armed with guns loaded with rubber bullets.

This time, it was the real deal.

The mission's success was supposed to be her number one priority. Supposed to. There was, however, something else clouding her mind. She quietly turned to look at her green-haired girlfriend. The look in her face showed raw and cold determination, Meghan knew that Ela was in her badass mode. At that second she realized that the mission's success was, for the first time ever, anything but her first priority.

 _Ela…_

It was at the moment when everyone gave her the thumbs up that Meghan finally snapped out of her thoughts. "Alright, let's move."

The team of five moved towards the front entrance of the theme park. At the moment in which they closed in, a volley of machine gun fire broke upon them, causing them to immediately scramble for cover. They tried to fire back, but the barrage of bullets was too much to even peak from cover.

"I don't think we're going through the main entrance." Eliza said shouted over the deafening sound of gunfire.

"Fuck it, go right." Meghan gestured. Everyone began moving east to the middle of the building. There, they saw a ramp leading to the second floor that wasn't in the simulation, or in any of the scout's reports. "We'll go up there."

Upon reaching the top of the ramp, they saw a single barricaded door. Ryad placed a breach charge while everyone stacked up for entry. Once everyone was ready, the charge was blown and they rushed in.

"Check that train car." Meghan ordered.

Jordan immediately broke off from the group to inspect the train car in order to prevent eventual surprises. He swept though the area, his mind focusing on what was behind the holographic sight of his weapon. He made sure that he didn't let anything escape his sight. "Clear." Jordan called out from inside the train car.

As if fate itself was mocking them, a group of White Masks emerged from the corner closest to them and engaged the operators in combat. One of them, blind due to adrenaline and maybe too much testosterone, rushed at the group of trained operators while wielding a Glock 17.

Eliza, Jordan and Ela all made quick work off the terrorist that ran in their direction and immediately scrambled to cover in the train car while Meghan and Ryad had no choice but to leave the building again and take cover by the door they had just walked through.

"They have an angle on us." Ryad stated, before peeking at the corner in which the terrorist forces were pouring out of, almost getting hit by a stray bullet.

"Throwing smoke." Eliza tossed out a smoke grenade, temporarily blocking the enemies vision of them.

"Eliza, the initiation room is across from us." Meghan pointed out. "Blow that wall and see if you can flank around."

"On it." The red head pulled out her CREM and shot a round at the wall across from them. The wall exploded, leaving a hole big enough to crouch through.

"I'm coming with you." Ela said as the two of them moved into the next room.

Meghan watched as the green-haired girl disappeared from her vision. Her heart tightened up when she heard the agonizing sound of the crossfire that broke out at the other side of the train tracks - a place out of her reach. She primarily heard the sound of Eliza's R4 and Ela's Scorpion, but also other sounds from where she couldn't pinpoint the source, and then, silence.

Deafening silence.

"Ela! Are you okay?!" Meghan completely lost her calm, falling into momentaneous despair, already assuming the worse. She didn't wait a second out before nonchalantly dropping the half-full magazine out of her MPX submachine gun and inserting a new one.

About to recklessly step out of cover, Ryad took hold of Meghan, saving from another volley of bullets that suddenly broke out. "Valkyrie, what are you doing?!" Meghan tried to break free from Ryad's strong arms, but the Spaniard was having none of it.

"I need to check if she's okay!"

"Valk! She's fine! She made it through!" Jordan shouted from the traincar. "You'll jeopardize the mission if you keep this shit up!"

Immediately after, they all heard what was the unmistakable sound of a GRZMOT mine going out, a burst of gunfire and shouting, all in some twisted form of melody. Out of nowhere, the White Masks that were shooting at the operators became silent, and the sound of heavy objects hitting the ground gave them the clue that they needed to realize what had just happened.

"Shit, my girl is still as deadly as ever." Jordan chuckled as he carelessly stepped out of the train car into what was assumed to be a hot zone not than five seconds ago.

After making sure that Meghan had calmed down enough, Ryad let go of the blonde. Allowing her to catch her breath, "Are you going to be okay, Valkyrie?"

The woman didn't want to do as much as look at the person who was talking to her. "Yes, Jackal. I'll be fine. I'm sorry."

After making sure that Meghan had recomposed herself, Ryad once again stepped through the once barricaded door. "You're lucky IQ didn't hear what you just said," Ryad tapped Jordan's shoulder, displaying a broad smile.

As Ela and Eliza stepped out of the hallway into the train tracks, they ran to regroup with the rest of Delta team. Meghan, still outside the building, watched as Ela approached them. She fought the will of running up to her and engulf the Polish girl in her arms. "What the hell is happening to me?" She thought.

After making sure she wouldn't do anything she'd regret later, she walked in and regrouped with her team.

They proceeded back into the hallway and noticed that the walls around them were all reinforced. At that moment, Jordan felt a pang of excitement.

"This is the main office room, now what could they be hiding in here?" Jordan asked.

"Let's find out." Meghan answered, surprised to see that her voice was working again. "Hit it."

Jordan unfolded one of his charges and stuck it onto the wall. "Stand back, a big fucking hole, coming right up!"

As the aluminum powder and metal oxide mixed, the thermite's powerful reaction began to cut through the reinforced wall. Once it finished the cut, the C4 went off, exploding the once impenetrable wall into shreds. They could just see White Masks being thrown across the room from the explosion. Several more were stunned and began firing blindly at the team, Meghan and Ryad were able to pick off a couple, but the rest were under formidable cover.

Ela and Eliza thought ahead and moved around to the side window. Eliza shot her second charge at the barricade, after a short delay, it was shattered. The two of them jumped in, Eliza turned to the right and took out a terrorist hiding behind a dresser. Ela, remembering her first run through on the practice course, looked behind the desk and took out two more White Masks. Two more tried to rush in from the bathroom, but were cut short by Jordan before they had a chance.

"We're clear." Ela reported.

"Well, I found what they were hiding." Jordan said as he gestured to the middle of the room.

Curled up on the floor, with his hands tied and mouth taped, was the second hostage.

"Irvin!" Meghan ran over to him and untied his hands and removed the tape from his mouth.

"Please tell me I'm finally getting the hell out of this place." He moaned.

"Don't worry buddy, we're getting you home." Jordan reassured him.

"Can you walk?" Meghan asked.

"Barely."

"We got you." Jordan and Ryad picked their friend up and began to walk him out.

"Alright ladies and gentlemen, it time to get the hell out of here." Eliza declared.

"Delta Squadron this is Valkyrie, second package secured, requesting MEDIVAC."

"Roger that, Delta four-zero coming in now, we'll see you at the south east end of the park, over."

"Let's take him down the haunted stairs, it's the fastest way there." Meghan suggested as the six of them began to make their way out of the building. "You three get Irvin out of here, Ela and I will cover you."

Eliza, Ryad and Jordan began to help Irvin down the stairs and out of the building while Meghan and Ela stayed at the top, keeping an eye out for any more enemies.

"Ela check the cash room."

Ela nodded and went inside to have a look around, the room was quiet. Other than the millions of dollars' worth of varying currencies, everything seemed normal. In the quietness she took a moment to reflect on the rescue. Seeing Irvin again, after all these years, and in such a state. She hadn't said anything to him, she didn't know what she could say. She wondered if he even noticed she was among his rescuers since he seemed to be in a daze.

Lost in her thoughts, Ela wandered recklessly by one of the desks she hadn't checked for any threats. Suddenly she felt a force push her to the ground and she lost her grip on her weapon. One of the White Masks was on top of her, she tried to scream for Meghan but he immediately wrapped his hand around her throat. Not only was she unable scream, but now she couldn't breathe as the terrorist's strong arms around her neck squeezed, trying to suffocate the Polish operator. She tried to reach for her sidearm, but he used his free hand to grab her by the wrist and pin her arm down. She tried to use her remaining hand to punch and claw at him, but she just wasn't strong enough to hurt him or he simply didn't care. Lack of oxygen was beginning to affect her. Her voice barely came out as pitiful whimper as she tried once again to scream for help.

Only when her vision started to fade to black, Ela thought that this was it. Flashbacks of her earlier days, of her shaken relationship with her family, with her father, with her older sister, Zofia. The years of experience at GROM, of the operations she's succeeded and the countless men she killed. So this was how dying actually felt like.

It was only at the end that she got to relive the most precious time of her life: her few and short months at Team Rainbow. And most importantly, something that no one ever managed to give her, something that she never felt the need to _feel_ before she finally got to experience it: love.

The force around her throat abruptly vanished, the heat dissipated, and the weight over her body was no longer there. She heard what could only be described as _struggle._ What was happening? She tried to regain her consciousness, but the lack of oxygen in her brain couldn't make sense of anything on her surroundings.

Grunts, shouting. Ela tried her best to turn around to _see_ what was going on, but she couldn't even open her eyes. She was so weak, so so weak. It was only after a sudden bang that shook her to her very core and the distinct noise of something heavy hitting the wooden floor that the noise stopped.

"E-Ela! Ela, are you okay?" A familiar voice repeated her own name, desperately claiming for a response Ela herself didn't have the energy to give.

She could _feel_ the proximity of someone close to her. At any situation, she'd be on alert and attempted to step away, but once arms snaked around her body, embracing her, she instantly relaxed. These strong, warm, comforting arms gave her an odd, but incredibly familiar feeling of security, compassion, love. Being engulfed by those arms made her melt to her very core, she wanted nothing but forget everything and relish that moment. She was still unnerved by the fact that she couldn't as much as mutter out a pathetic whisper, but she was feeling so much better now. The possibility of her oxygen-deprived brain be playing a sick prank with her, causing her to hallucinate wasn't erased immediately, but there was no dream, no hallucination that could ever felt this _good_.

"Oh God, please!" But after the first teardrop fell on her forehead, the Polish girl's heart was shattered into thousands of pieces. She didn't know why, but all she wanted was to reassure the person that held her in her arms that everything was okay, and it was all going to be okay. It had been so long before she ever caught herself crying, but that was something Ela wasn't able to control anymore. As she felt her own tears trailing down her cheeks alongside the ones who held her in her arms, Ela finally got to experience a different kind of pain she never expected to feel again. She hardened herself emotionally over the years to become the perfect killing machine, completely deprived of emotions.

But it was that blonde operator- no, it was her lover which she hated at first but got to finally love that finally made her open up again. She owed her everything, she owed Meghan everything she is today.

And if Valkyrie...if Meghan wants her to stand by her side.

Then that's exactly what Ela's going to do.

In an incredible display of willpower, Ela caught her breath with an audible gasp. The oxygen filling her lungs felt like she was tasting the God's elixir itself. With struggle, she managed to open her eyes; the light slightly blinding her for a second forcing her to squint her eyes immediately in response, but the little she could see was enough to soothe her heart. The figure standing before her was so breathtakingly stunning that it couldn't be no hallucination.

"Oh my God, Ela!" Meghan cried, her eyes so wide that it looked like they were going to pop out. The blonde buried her face into the Polish girl shoulder, crying what could only be described as tears of relief and happiness. She unconsciously squeezed the girl around her arms tighter, as if she let go just by the slightest, she would vanish into thin air.

"If you squeeze any tighter, I think you're going to kill me," Ela muttered with a smile.

Meghan's body jerked for a second after hearing the girl's whisper on her ear. She immediately backed off, giving Ela the much needed space. "I'm sorry!" the blonde uttered quickly, making it sound almost like one word.

Her arms were somewhat weak, but Ela managed to get herself sitting up. Meghan tried to help her, but the girl urged to let herself try first. And surely, Ela made it, it was a little more problematic than it should've been, but considering her state, she wouldn't be any surprised if someone else decided to stay on the ground.

With a gloved hand, Meghan inconsequentially touched the girl's face before her, both of them lingering the contact in their own way. "I'm so sorry, Ela," the blonde said, a tear dropping from her cheek to her vest, "I-I should've been there with- with you. I got so carele-"

"Just shut up," Ela interrupted by pressing her lips against Meghan's. The blonde's body immediately jerked up, surprised, but relaxed a second or two later, lingering the kiss as much as possible. Ela had sealed herself from every single feeling she could for the largest part of her life that she wasn't sure how to cope with the waves upon waves of emotions hitting her at the same time. It felt like every worry, everything that made them hold back previously were far away in their past. The kiss was of such intensity that they felt like they ceased from being two separate bodies to become one singular entity.

All both woman wanted was to enjoy that moment throughout eternity. Finally get all these years way into their past and rewrite that history from that moment on with that simple gesture of affection, but if not for a little something called Oxygen, they'd be able to linger on that feeling for a little longer. Ela was the first to break the kiss, gasping to caught her breath.

"T-that was something," Meghan commented somewhat embarrassed. They were alone, yes, but she struggled to forget that they were still on duty, and in enemy territory, nonetheless. For the first time in a while since she joined Team Rainbow back on Operation Dust Line, she finally was looking for the end of an operation.

"Y-yeah," Ela's chest heaved up and down, clearly disappointed that she wouldn't be able to enjoy Meghan's affections for any longer… for now.

A loud, continuous beeping broke their spell and caught the attention of the operators. They looked over and saw the figure of the impersonated devil sprinting towards them. What had been a special moment instantly turned into one of raw terror. The bomber was now upon the two of them, dressed in a thick biohazard suit with multiple explosives attached to his body. He already wielded the detonator, ready to blow the operators before him at the cost of his life.

Meghan went into overdrive. She looked around for her trusty Desert Eagle, but it was nowhere to be found - she had abandoned all of her gear a few feet back, it was too far. She knew it was already too late to attempt to go fetch it and repel the threat, so she did the only thing she could. Without hesitation, she grabbed Ela by the jacket and pushed her over the railing, sending her falling down to the floor below. Unfortunately, this didn't leave her enough time to get herself over the edge.

As Ela fell, all she could do was look up in horror as she saw the distance between her and her girlfriend grow. She felt the harsh impact of landing on her back. One second later, her life- no, _their_ life turned to a tipping point. The distinctive noise of the detonator being triggered, the great flash that blinded her, the great noise that deafened her, the shockwave that shook her heart and probably killed any prospect of her having the life she never thought she deserved but was presented to her nevertheless. Her life with Meghan, dead.

For a second Ela couldn't move. She watched, horrified, as rags of clothing went up on the ceiling and fell on the floor below, on fire. Her mind could not believe what just happened, she didn't _want_ to believe what just happened. She didn't think it was possible to have such a drastic turnaround of emotions washing over her simultaneously. "MEGHAN!" In an instant, she was back on her feet and rushing up the stairs. It couldn't have been more than fifteen steps, but each step felt like she climbed a different mountain. The fact that she was unable to breathe not a minute ago didn't help for a split second.

Finally, she made it back up to the top of the stairs. Burn marks and shrapnel were everywhere, the man had practically vaporized. And next to what remained, laying on the ground, was Meghan, unmoving and covered in blood. "No!" Ela's mind kicked into overdrive as she rushed towards and knelt by the SEAL and automatically began a triage. Burns and cuts were scattered throughout her body, and no doubt there would be a concussion, then she saw it. Meghan's left leg was entirely covered by blood, lots of it. One noteworthy spot featured a darker color than the rest of the leg. Ela dared to tap it, and it was absolutely soaked by blood - she needed to take a better look at it. Ela unsheathed her combat knife and immediately cut the blonde's camouflaged pants from the top of the thighs down. Sure enough, there was a gaping hole in her leg, and blood was seeping out, but not like a stream, it was pulsating. That could only mean one thing, a piece of shrapnel had sliced all the way into Meghan's femoral artery. If such a wound wasn't treated within minutes, it would be fatal.

Ela had to act fast. Luckily, Meghan always kept her first aid kit on her whenever she went on missions. She opened it and quickly found what she was looking for: bandages. She wrapped it around the injured leg and tightened it as much as she could, using the terrorist's severely damaged SIG 552 as an anchor to twist it in order to tighten the tourniquet. Unfortunately, this wasn't enough to stop the bleeding, much to Ela's despair, more action was needed. The artery was going to have to be clamped shut. She went back to digging in the first aid kit, in which she found a clamp and more layers of bandages.

Now she was about to be going for the hard part, and by far the most gruesome task she's ever done. She was going to have to reach inside the wound and find the severed artery in order to clamp it shut. Perhaps it was better that Meghan was unconscious, such an ordeal while awake would be excruciating. Ela wasted no time as she dug her fingers into the open wound. Needless to say, she wasn't going to err on the side of caution with Meghan's life on the line.

She had to be quick, but she had to be steady, and that's where the problem lied. She was having trouble keeping her hands steady, the adrenaline from combat combined with the fact that this was her girlfriend cause Ela's hands to shake uncontrollably. She had to clamp the artery in a certain way so that it would be completely seal and prevent further blood loss. But that was easier said than done when she couldn't control her hands, every time she would get close, she would slip up and have to start over again.

This couldn't be happening, Meghan was on the verge of death and she couldn't save her. Tears began to stream down her face as Ela could feel that time was running out.

"Come on you idiot." She said to herself. "You're better than this."

Her hand slipped again. "Spierdolić"

She tried again. "She's _finally_ counting on you, and you're letting her down." Another slip.

"She shouldn't have done that, she should have jumped instead." Once again, her hand slipped.

"Fuck!" She yelled in frustration. "Why can't I do this? This is Iraq all over again." Now she was full blown sobbing, Meghan's life was in her hands, and she was slipping.

" _No, it's not."_ A familiar voice came into her head. _"Here, let me help you out."_

"Nelson?"

" _Yeah, it's me again."_ She wasn't sure if she was going crazy or if he was actually talking to her from beyond, or both. _"Now let's try this a gain shall we."_

Suddenly, she could feel his hand on hers, she couldn't see it, but there was no doubt, as her hands immediately steadied. _"There we go. Now, gently..."_

She was able to keep her hand steady as she guided the tool into the wound, then she finally hit the mark. "There!" She quickly squeezed the clamp shut. The bleeding stopped.

" _There you go."_ He was still speaking to her. _"Consider this a thanks for keeping the boys safe."_

"Thank you."

" _Now Bosak, stop being so hard on yourself. Oh, and tell everyone I said hi."_

With that, Ela felt the pressure holding her hands in place disappearing, and somehow, someway, she had a distinct feeling that that would be the last time she would be hearing from any of them.

Meghan's wound was sealed, but she was still in critical condition. Her skin was pale from all the blood she lost and she was still unconscious. She needed serious medical attention, and quick.

"Ela, Valkyrie what's the hold up?!" Came Jordan's voice. After a moment, he came walking up the stairs. "What going- Oh no." Upon glancing at the scene in front of him, he immediately saw the severity of the situation. "What happened?"

"It was a bomber, we didn't see him coming." Ela explained.

Jordan pulled out his radio. "Doc, this is Delta Team, we need you over here now!"

"Delta Team, this is Doc, I'm on my way to your position." Came a response.

"Ash, it's Thermite! Listen, tell the chopper not to take off, I say again, do not take off!"

"What? Why?"

"Just tell them!"

After a moment, Eliza came back with a response. "Alright, the chopper is standing by."

"Good, now is there an extra stretcher in there?"

"Yeah. There's one extra. Why, what's going on?"

"I need one of you to bring it back in here."

"What!?" The frustration was growing in Eliza's voice. "Thermite, what's going on?!"

"Just do it! Please."

"Alright, I'm coming in now."

"Thank you." Now that that was settled, Jordan began to help treat Meghan, bandaging the minor cuts and burns. He looked at Ela. "Are you alright?" He asked upon noticing that she seemed unscathed.

"She saved me." She answered. "She pushed me over the edge to safety and took the full force of the blast."

"That sounds exactly like something she would do." He responded.

"Alright, I'm here." Gustave had finally arrived and saw what was happening. "Oh my." He immediately sprang into action.

"Her leg." Ela pointed out. "It got hit the worst."

"Alright. Let's have a look." He began to examine the wound and noticed it had already been patched up. "Did you do this?"

"Yes."

"You may have saved her life." Gustave complimented the girl. He knew what Meghan meant to her, he judged that she deserved praise for probably saving her life.

"Is she going to be okay?"

"I won't lie to you, she's in bad shape." He pulled out his stim pistol and injected her with a shot. "This will help but we have to get her to a hospital now."

"I have Ash bringing in a stretcher." Jordan said.

"Good, that will make it safer to transport her."

"Alright, here it is now what's-" Eliza had come back and when she saw her friend on the ground, dropped the stretcher from her hands. "Meghan... no. Wha-what happened?"

"We'll explain later, now help us with this." Jordan began unfolding the stretcher.

"We'll load her onto the chopper with Irvin, but we need to hurry." The four of them began to pick up Meghan in order to place her on the stretcher. "Gently now."

They had just put her on when Gustave stopped moving, as if he noticed something. "What's wrong." Eliza asked.

"She's not breathing." He answered.

They all looked at their wounded operator, specifically her chest, she had in fact stopped breathing. Eliza grabbed her wrist and felt for a pulse, there was none.

"NO!" Ela screamed. Gustave was about to perform CPR when she beat him to it. She started to do chest compressions on the SEAL followed by mouth to mouth. Gustave also grabbed Meghan's wrist and began feeling for a pulse.

"Damnit Meghan, you're not dying after all you and I just went through." Ela yelled at her unconscious girlfriend.

Jordan and Eliza could only look on as Ela tried to revive their friend. Eliza went from checking for a pulse to simply clutching her best friends hand. Tears were beginning to form under her sunglasses.

After Ela's fifth set of compressions, there was still no response from the SEAL. Everyone began to fear the worst but Ela kept trying.

"Ela…" Gustave said. She looked at him, tears now falling uncontrollably. "I'm sorry."

Ela looked down at Meghan's lifeless body. She shook her head. "NO!" In a fit of sadness and anger, she raised her fist and delivered one last punch into Meghan's chest.

To everyone's shock, Meghan let out a gasp.

"Did she…"

"I don't believe it."

Meghan started breathing normally again, she was still out cold, but breathing.

"She really is unstoppable." Eliza commented.

"Alright, let's not wait around for something else to happen, everyone grab a corner and move." Gustave ordered. They all grabbed a side of the stretcher and proceeded to carry Meghan out of the theme park.

"Ash, Thermite." Ryad's voice now came over the radio. "Where are you guys? The pilot is saying he can't wait any longer, we have to take off."

"Hold tight Jackal, we're coming out now." Jordan reassured him.

The four of them soon came out of the building and made their way to the helicopter that was waiting. They gently loaded Meghan in and made sure to strap her down for the flight. Then they all hopped on board as well, Ela never letting go of Meghan's hand. Jordan gave the signal to the pilot that they were ready for takeoff. Within moments, the bird was up in the air and making its way back to base.

"HQ this is Delta four-zero, we have the second package, returning to base now, we also have another wounded on board in critical condition, requesting to have medical team on standby for our arrival, over."

"Roger Delta four-zero, we'll be waiting, out."

Above the theme park, the only remaining helicopter was still circling around the building, waiting for the signal. Finally, he saw it, Mike had stepped outside waving a red flare, signaling the all clear, the battle was over.

"HQ this is Delta three-eight, mission successful and the area is secure, you are now clear to send in the cleanup crews and investigation teams."

"Roger that Delta three-eight, sending in all secondary units now, ETA twenty minutes."

* * *

Back at the hotel, Isaac and Six stood in the makeshift communications room. They had been listening anxiously to the radio traffic coming through. Combat was one thing, but staying behind wasn't exactly an easy experience either. There were no live feeds of the battle, so all they could do to judge how well things were going was use the radio traffic to paint a picture in their heads. When Ela hit the ground, her radio had turned on and was transmitting back to headquarters. Everyone in the room was forced to listen to the gut-wrenching sound of her frantic screams as she tried to save her fellow operator.

Isaac had almost asked Kowalski to kill the transmission from their end, until he heard Ela say a familiar name. Kowalski had turned to him, having heard it as well, assuring Isaac that he hadn't imagined it.

Now that the battle was over, an eerie silence had come over the room.

"Alright, the hard parts over." Six said, breaking the silence. "Good work everyone, now we can begin the next phase, figuring out what was going on here."

Everyone acknowledged her statement and began prepping for the investigation and cleanup that would have to be conducted.

"Kowalski."

The man was broken from his train of thought. "Yes ma'am?"

"Send a status report to the UN, their expecting an update."

"Right away ma'am." He opened his laptop that was securely connected to their top secret mainframe and began typing a report.

MISSION UPDATE:

TARGET FACILITY UNDER NATO CONTROL, ALL ACTIVITIES SUCCESSFULLY KEPT AWAY FROM PUBLIC VIEW.

OBJECTIVE STATUS:

TWO EXPLOSIVES DISARMED.

TWO FRIENDLY HOSTAGES EXTRACTED, STATUS: ALIVE

TOP SECRET COMMUNICATIONS EQUIPMENT RECOVERED

STATUS OF HIGH VALUE TARGET: UNKNOWN (MAY BE AMONG THE DEAD)

CASUALTY REPORT:

ENEMY CASUALTIES: UNKNOWN

FRIENDLY CASUALTIES: 3 WOUNDED (INCLUDING TWO EXTRACTED HOSTAGES, ONE CRITICAL)

ADDITIONAL REMARKS:

MISSION SUCCESS YET TO BE DETERMINED, SENDING IN INVESTIGATION TEAMS FOR ANALYSIS, WILL SEND UPDATES AS RESULTS ARE FOUND.

OPERATION BLOOD ORCHID: CONCLUDED

* * *

Author's note: Well, there you have it. I can't even begin to explain the roller coaster it was writing this. Seriously, the amount of writing and re-writing, plus the frustration of sitting at my computer wanting to write but not being able to think of anything. Again, big thanks to RStyle. As for what happened to Meghan, I've had this event in my head since the beginning, and its a relief to finally see it written here. What's going to happen to her you ask? Well now you'll just have to wait and see. And I promise the next chapter wont take over a month and a half. I also can't even begin to thank all of my followers for your patience, I know you guys were looking forward to this one and have had to sit and wait for me to get my life together. I really appreciate you guys sticking with me though this, thank you. And speaking of followers, What Will It Take is now the most followed Rainbow Six story on this site! I never imagined that this story would be this popular and again, I can't thank you guys enough. On a side note, I sort of turned two easter eggs into one in this chapter, whoever guesses them both first gets a shout out in the next chapter. The first one might be really obvious but only old school gamers will get the second. As always I hope you enjoyed and feel free to leave a review. Until next time.


	19. Chapter 18

Author's note: Here's the next chapter. Not much to say except I hope you enjoy.

* * *

What Will It Take?

Chapter 18

* * *

The lights flickered slightly in the otherwise brightly lit waiting room. The room was quiet as the four occupants waited. They each had their method of passing the time, which seemed to be going by agonizingly slow. Jordan paced back and forth around the room. Ryad leaned against the wall, thinking to himself. Eliza was sitting in one of the chairs, wrapping a comforting arm around Ela and grasped her hand reassuringly.

"It's going to be okay." She whispered to the Polish girl.

Ela hadn't said a word since they boarded the chopper. When they landed at the hospital, Gustave practically had to pry her hand from Meghan's. He, along with the medical team from Hereford had been operating on Meghan's wounds for the past few hours, at least that's what it felt like, everyone was still in shock and had completely lost track of time.

Suddenly, the doors to the waiting room burst open and a figure frantically rushed in. "Eliza!" It was Monika, followed by the rest of Alpha Team.

Eliza had barley stood up when the German practically crashed into her, wrapping her arms around her girlfriend tight. Burying her face in the crook of her neck, she began quietly sobbing. "Hey, hey, it's okay, I'm here." The redhead reassured as she wrapped her arms just as tightly around the blonde.

"We heard the someone from Delta got hit, badly, but they didn't say who." Monika explained. "I was worried that…"

"I'm okay." Eliza said as she wiped away her girlfriends tears. Then she looked back at Ela. "It was Meghan who got hit."

Monika's eye's went wide. "No." She finally let go of Eliza and took both of Ela's hands into hers. "Ela?"

"She saved me." Ela finally spoke. "She pushed me out of the way. I don't know why she did that. It should have been me, not her." Tears were once again flowing down her face.

"Don't say that." Monika said. "You mean the world to her, she would never forgive herself if she let you get hurt."

Ela didn't know what to say to that.

Meanwhile, Mike pulled Jordan aside. "If you don't mind me asking, what exactly happened?"

"Bomber got to 'em." Jordan explained. "Meghan pushed her to safety but couldn't get herself out in time."

"How? Castellano isn't one to let an enemy sneak up on her, a bomber at that."

"Not exactly sure. The two of them were alone at the time, I feel like maybe they could have been…distracted."

"What do you mean?"

"She got a little reckless in the beginning, too focused on Ela, almost got herself shot trying to go after her."

"Bugger. I was worried about them being put on the same team. I tried to bring it up to Six and the Captain but they weren't having it."

"Well, there's nothing we can do now."

"You're right. How bad is she anyway?"

"She flatlined...we actually lost her for a second." It was almost as if realization finally hit the marine. His fellow operator, his friend, had been dead, if only for a few moments. "Ela brought her back."

"Bloody hell, that woman's a tough one. What did Gustave say?"

"…He's not sure if she's going to make it."

"Damn."

"All we can do is wait."

* * *

Over the next hour, word got around about Meghan, and the operators from Bravo, Charlie and Echo teams made their way to the waiting room. All of them were anxious to hear any news about their friend. Some conversed with each other to pass the time, some kept to themselves, some gave comforting reassurances to Ela. Soon, the wait became agonizing to everyone.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity, the doors to the operating rooms opened and Gustave stepped out.

Ela immediately got up and walked up to him. "How is she?!" She asked frantically.

"She's…stable, for now." He started. "But she's not out of the woods yet."

"Why? What's going on?" Eliza asked.

"Well, we've patched her leg up, closed the wound as best we could." He began explaining. "However, she did lose a lot of blood. Combined with the fact that her heart stopped momentarily meant that blood and oxygen were not getting to her brain, therefore-"

"Gustave." Mike interrupted. "We're not all doctors."

"Yes." Ela agreed. "Please, just tell me how she is."

"Right." Gustave sighed. "She's in a coma, and we don't know yet if she'll be able pull through."

Ela felt like a knife just went through her heart. "What are her chances?" She asked, not sure if she really wanted to hear the answer.

Gustave thought for a moment. "She has a fifty-fifty chance of surviving the next twenty-four hours. However, if she does, her odds jump up exponentially."

Ela was filled with a sense of despair. She had always been a glass half empty kind of person, and now that it was dealing with her girlfriends life, she was overcome with absolute fear. "Is there anything else you can do?"

"I'm afraid we've done all we can for now. Of course we will continue to monitor her vitals, but all we can do for now is wait."

"Can I see her?"

Gustave gave her a sympathetic look. "I'm afraid not." He hated that he had to say it. "Her wounds are still fresh, and her body is in a very fragile state. That combined with the fact that we were all just in an abandoned theme park filled with drugs and filth, means that she would be extremely susceptible to infection."

This didn't do anything to sooth Ela's state of mind. Her whole body started to tremble, she felt like she could barely stand. Eliza held her steady and helped her take a seat.

"I'm sorry." He continued. "If I could let you see her, I would in a heartbeat. But we have to give her every edge we can."

Mike's phone began to ring, he stepped away answer it.

"Ela, if it weren't for what you did, all of it, she wouldn't even have made it here."

Chatter began to build up among the operators. None of them could believe what they were hearing. When the noise level began to be too much, Mike decided to speak up.

"Alright, everyone quiet down!" He had just hung up the phone. "I just got off the horn with Six, everyone is to report back to headquarters, they need all of our statements and after action reports. As well as prepare for the site investigation."

"They do know we have someone in the hospital, right?" James asked, irritation apparent in his voice.

"Stow it James. We have our orders, now move."

Everyone began to file out of the waiting room, to make their way back to the hotel. Eventually, it was only Mike, Gustave, Ela, Eliza and Monika who still remained.

Ela looked at Mike hesitantly. "Do…do we have to-"

"You three are staying here." Mike responded without a second thought. "If anyone says anything, send them my way."

"Thank you." Ela responded in gratitude.

Mike placed his hand on her shoulder and offered her a smile. "Just tell us when she wakes up, alright."

Ela nodded, she wished the she could share the mans optimism. Mike then took his leave as well.

"Fifty-fifty, those odds are more than enough for Meghan." Eliza said.

"Definitely." Monika agreed. The two of them seemed to be saying this for Ela's sake.

"I have to go back to check on her, I'll give you more information as soon as anything changes."

The three of them nodded.

"Oh, and there's one more thing." Gustave said, gaining Ela's attention once more. "In order to treat her wounds, they had to cut the clothing from her body. But, I managed to save this." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a piece of cloth. It was Meghan's signature shemagh that she always kept wrapped around her head. He handed it to her before walking back to the operating room.

Ela clutched the fabric in her hands, it was slightly burned, but no blood. She held it tightly and placed it over her heart as she started sobbing uncontrollably. Eliza quickly wrapped her arms around the Polish girl in a vain attempt to comfort her.

"She's going to be okay." Eliza said. "You heard him, Meghan is more than strong enough to take on a fifty percent chance."

"Remember, they call her unstoppable for a reason." Monika added.

Ela wasn't hearing any of this, her mind was in a haze. She kept flashing back to the theme park, this was really all her fault. If she hadn't gotten distracted in the cash room. If she had been strong enough to take on her attacker. If hadn't been so god damn rebellious and kissed her in the middle of a battle. Both of them knew it was not the place nor the time, but since when has Ela ever cared about the rules of conduct. If she hadn't done just one of those, then the bomber wouldn't have taken them by surprise and Meghan wouldn't be in this state, clinging to life.

"This is all my fault." She choked out between sobs.

"Don't say that." Eliza countered. "There's no way you could have known this would happen."

"No. You don't understand." She freed herself from Eliza's grip so she could look them both in the eye's. "She was too busy looking after me."

The two other women looked at her questioningly.

"I wasn't paying attention, and the next thing I knew, one of them was on me." She shook from reliving the memory. "She pulled him off of me and made sure I was okay."

"That doesn't make it your fault." Monika commented.

"That's not all." Ela could barely talk. "The reason he managed to sneak up on us was because I kissed her. In the middle of a fucking mission!" She ran her fingers through her hair and put her head down, she couldn't look either one of them in the eye. "I did this to her." She barely managed to whisper.

"No!" Eliza grabbed Ela by the shoulders and forced her to look up. "Listen to me Ela, you did not to this to her." Ela tried to look away but Eliza shook her to keep her attention. "They did. They hurt her. You know why, because they hurt everyone. They will hurt, kidnap, and kill anyone they can because its what they do. Meghan, Norman, Irvin and many, many others." By now, tears were flowing down Eliza's face as well. "I've seen it too many times before."

"And besides." Monika added. "We can all see that Meghan means the world to you. You can't blame yourself, there's no way that you could have known what would happen."

Ela wasn't sure if she could believe what they were saying, but appreciated their efforts in putting her mind at ease. At least she had calmed down to the point where her uncontrollable sobbing had reduced to the occasional hiccup.

"In any case, what's done is done, now all we can do is wait until she wakes up." Monika said.

"If she wakes up." Ela said.

"WHEN she wakes up." Eliza corrected. "Don't give up on her so easily."

Ela knew the redhead was right, Meghan wasn't dead yet, she shouldn't be acting like all hope was lost. But waiting around was going to drive her crazy, she had already spent hours in this depressing room, she wasn't sure if she could handle another potential twenty-four.

Then the doors opened again and two people entered the waiting room. None of them had seen either of the two before. The first was a woman with brown hair with the sides shaven and a distinct scar across her face. The other was a well-built man with dark hair, carrying a large backpack. The two completely disregarded the three operators as they walked into the operating room.

"What the hell are you two doing here?" They heard Gustave ask before the doors closed and the rest of the conversation was cut off.

"I need some air." Ela announced as she got up from her seat.

"Want us to come with you?" Monika asked.

"Thanks, but I need some time alone." Ela responded. "Call me if anything changes?"

"Of course."

Ela walked out of the waiting room and down the hallway. The hospital was not too crowded with only a few guests and hospital staff roaming around. After a few minutes of exploring, she found what she was looking for, a balcony. She stepped outside and leaned up against the railing, they were on one of the upper floors of the hospital. This provided an excellent view of the city around them, the lights, the ocean, an excellent view of Victoria Harbor. The scene would be beautiful and enjoyable under different circumstances.

Ela stayed and admired the view for a few minutes, trying to ease her mind. But being left alone with her own thoughts, she only kept reliving the events of the day. Reflecting on everything from riding in the helicopter to that fateful moment. She shook her head, she came here to get away from the nightmare, not relive it. It seemed being alone with her thoughts was not an effective method of dealing with the long wait. She needed something else, something to distract her from all of this.

Just then, a voice caught her attention. There were many voices in the area, it was a hospital after all, but this one stood out. They were in a Chinese hospital, but this voice was strongly American, and familiar.

Ela turned around just in time to see the familiar figures of Kowalski and McConnell walking through the hospital. As soon as she managed to recognize them, they turned the corner out of view. Curiosity got the better of her, and she immediately followed. Turning the corner she had seen them go, she found herself in another hallway, this one with multiple rooms attached. She slowly made her way through the corridor, wondering where they could have gone.

Then, as she approached one of the doors, she heard them again. Their voices coming from inside the room. Not wanting to be seen, at least not yet, she carefully peaked around the corner inside. To her shock, there they were, the five of them. Isaac, McConnell and Kowalski, with Norman and Irvin laying in their hospital beds. The five of them were smiling and even laughing as they conversed with each other, the three healthy ones happy and relieved to see there two friends were now safe and recovering.

Ela took a step back, not sure what to make of the situation. Her immediate instinct was to run as far away as possible, but something stopped her. The piece of cloth that she absentmindedly pulled out of her pocket. She clutched the piece of fabric again and she inspected it, not sure exactly what to look for. In doing so, she could almost feel Meghan's presence, as if she were standing right here. No, there would be no running, this needed to happen. Meghan said she would help her with this, and it looked like that's exactly what was going to happen, just not quite in the way they had imagined it.

Ela took the shemagh and wrapped it around her, not in the same style as her girlfriend, but only around her neck, like a bandana, with the excess hovering right over her heart. She walked over to one of the windows to look at her reflection. "Fitting." She thought, both physically and metaphorically.

With one last deep breath, she turned and entered the room. As she did, all conversation immediately stopped and her five teammates looked over at her. For a moment, no one said anything.

"Seriously, what does Doc put in this medicine?" Norman asked. "Because I swear I'm looking at Bosak."

Isaac smiled at his friends notion. "You're not hallucinating brother, that's her."

"Well I'll be damned, so it really was you that rescued my ass." Irvin said.

"It's about time you came and said hello." Kowalski added. "You've been on the team for how long now?"

"On the team?" Norman asked.

"She's a Rainbow operator now bro." McConnell clarified.

"No way! That's awesome."

"So, Bosak, nice to see you again." Irvin complimented.

Ela, still cautious, took another step into the room. "It's…been a while."

"I'll say. It's been a decade." McConnell mentioned. "How have you been?"

This caught Ela off guard, she had been expecting severe backlash from her former team. Instead, they offered her nothing but smiles and a warm welcome. "…busy." She answered.

"Yeah, I can imagine." Kowalski laughed. "You're with GROM now. Joinging the family business I see."

"I guess you can say that." Ela answered, not really wanting to bring up her family. "How…have you all been?"

"Other than the recent ass beating, kidnapping, and additional ass beating, I've been great." Norman joked. "Oh and I got a kid now, want to see?"

"Ugh, you're one of those dad's." Irvin groaned.

"What's that supposed to mean?!"

"You're like 'hey how are you here's a picture of my kid' kind of dad." Irvin clarified. "No one asked to see pictures of your kid."

"Up yours, at least I can have a kid with my spouse." Norman retorted, as harsh as the words sounded, the two were clearly just joking around as close friends often do. "Oh yeah, Irvin's gay now, here's a picture of my wife and kid." He held up his phone.

Ela cautiously took a few more steps forward to get a better view of the picture.

"Bosak, you're fine." Isaac suddenly spoke, noticing her apprehensiveness. "You don't have to worry about being here with us."

That was just it, they were being open and welcoming. Why? After what happened on their last mission together, she expected to receive nothing but anger and resentment. Instead they greeted her as if nothing had changed. "I thought you all hated me." She finally said.

"Now why would we hate you?" Isaac asked.

"It's just…after what happened…"

"We don't hate you." Said Kowalski. "We don't even blame you."

"But it was my foolishness that got…" She paused, having to relive that tragic day. "That got them killed."

"Look, war is chaos." McConnell explained. "I'll admit it, there was some anger in the days that followed. But the reality is, you make decisions every day, and not all of them are going to be right, you're only human. Combine that with the hell of being on the battlefield, bad things happen, it's simply fate."

"We never wanted you to leave either." Irvin added. "After losing half the team in one blow, watching you leave felt like we had lost another."

Ela could feel tears starting to form in her eyes. "How?"

"You have to remember, we were together for four years." Norman reminded her. "Four fucking years in that god forsaken place. Four years, the twelve of us kicking ass and living in the sand together, no matter what happens, you will always be a part of that, a part of us."

"In fact, that's kind of why you're here." Isaac said. "When Six told me that she wanted an operator from GROM, I didn't even have to think. I put your name down without hesitation."

She looked at him confused. "You asked for me specifically?"

"Of course. Aside from the fact that you're more than capable as an operator, you're still a part of our team. Ten years is a long time Bosak, and to be honest, I just wanted to see if you were okay. Regardless of what happened, you always have, and always will be, a member of our family." He offered her a warm and genuine smile. "And we've missed you."

Ela was speechless. He was right. Why hadn't she seen it that way before? For the past ten years, whenever she would think back on her team, the only memory that would surface would be the last time they would be together. But that was one day, out of four years. Four years of doing things that no one outside of their circle would understand. Their awkward first day meeting, their first mission, their hundredth, birthday's celebrated in a dirt hole with a cake made from MRE snacks. These were memories of her team, and her legacy of her time with them. And because of this, they never saw her as anything other than family. The tears had now broken free and were now running freely down her face. "I've missed you all too."

Isaac stood up and gave the Polish girl a hug, which she returned happily, and one by one she gave hugs to the others as well, ending on Norman. "Can I see that picture now?"

For the next several hours, they all talked and caught up with one another. Sharing stories and experiences of the different places they had been. Stories of battles, of families, and of love, there was a lot to talk about when covering the past decade of one's life.

"So, you and Valk?" Norman asked.

"Yes, we're together." Ela answered, cheeks turning red.

"Ha, told you she was a lesbian. Now you owe me a dollar." Irvin said.

"We made that bet like twelve years ago, it's expired." Norman retorted.

"Nowhere in that agreement did we say it expired after a certain amount of time."

"You two made a bet?" Ela questioned.

"Yeah, after all of us tried hitting on you and you said no." Norman clarified.

"So that's what that feels like." Ela muttered.

"How is she anyway?" Irvin asked. "I saw her in the chopper."

Ela's mood once again dampened, remembering why she was in this hospital in the first place. "They're…doing all they can."

Everyone seemed to catch what she meant.

"She's a tough chick." McConnell said. "She'll pull through, I have no doubt."

"Yeah, with someone as strong as her, she'll get through this easily." Kowalski added.

"Thanks guys." Ela responded. She was thankful for this. All this time, she had worried over nothing. To them, she was still family. She felt like an enormous weight had been lifted from her shoulders, only to have a new one fall on her when her phone vibrated. She pulled it out to read the message. _"We can see her now."_ It was from Eliza.

She eagerly typed out a reply. _"Is she awake?!"_

" _No, but you should be the first one she see's when she wakes up."_ Came the response, disheartening her.

" _I'll be right there."_

"What's up?" Isaac asked.

"They're saying I can see her." She answered. "She's still unconscious, but at least I can see her."

Ela was experiencing a whirlwind of emotions. On one hand, she had patched her relationship with her former team, maybe not fully just yet, but it was definitely a great start. On the other hand, her girlfriends life still hung in the balance. She was happy and terrified at the same time, she didn't know what to do until she felt a hand on her shoulder.

"Go to her Bosak." It was Isaac. "And if there's anything you need, don't be afraid to come to us, we've got your back, and we always will."

Ela felt like she was going to cry again. "Thank you." Again, she gave each one of them a hug. She was about to leave when she stopped and turned one more time. "Oh. Nelson says hi." She said before making her way to the other end of the hospital.

* * *

She quickly made her way back to the waiting room and saw Eliza, Monika and Gustave waiting for her. "How is she?"

"Stable." Gustave said. "For now. Just be carful with physical contact." With that, he lead the three of them into the room where Meghan was recovering.

Ela wasn't prepared for what she saw. Her girlfriend, her world, in a bed, in a hospital gown, tubes and wires running across her arm, an oxygen mask on her face, the beeping of various machines. Multiple bandages and stitches on her minor injuries, she also noticed that they had placed a blanket over her main wound. It broke Ela's heart to see her in a such a condition. "Has she…improved?"

"A little, but we still need to monitor her closely." Gustave answered.

"Can I…"

"Of course."

Ela walked up to the side of the bed. For what seemed like the millionth time that day, tears began flowing down her face. "Meghan." She said, barely above a whisper. She took the unconscious woman's hand into her own and held it tight, she wanted so badly to feel her squeeze her hand back, but sadly no such feeling came.

"I'll give you all some space." Gustave said as he left the room.

Eliza and Monika walked to the other side of the bed. "She's just recharging, that's all." Said the redhead.

"She'll be fine Ela." Monika reassured.

Ela merely nodded in response, unable to find her voice. She knew they were trying to stay positive to make her feel better, but Ela was not oblivious to the fact that this could very well be the last night that she would have with Meghan. She slowly leaned down and gently placed a kiss on her girlfriends forehead. "Please stay with me." She whispered. "Please."

* * *

Author's note: Well, Ela has overcome one demon, but gained another. This is another one of those scenes I've had since chapter one and I'm really happy to finally see it published. Again thanks to RStyle for being my beta reader, and thank you for reading. As always, I hope you enjoyed and feel free to leave a review. Until next time.


	20. Chapter 19

Author's note: Happy 2019 Everybody! Well it's official, this story is one year old today! And now for the moment you guys have been waiting for, what is going to happen to our beloved Meghan Castellano? Enjoy.

* * *

What Will It Take?

Chapter 19

* * *

Her eyelids were unbelievably heavy, she noted as she struggled to open her eyes. It took her an incredible amount of willpower to return to her senses, although it felt like she wasted it all when she finally made it. A never-ending void surrounded her, almost as if she remained with her eyes closed, although she knew for a fact that was not true. The whole atmosphere made a chill run down her spine, making her entire body jerk.

"Hello?" She dared to utter a sound, her voice echoing through the infinite.

She waited for a response, but nothing came.

She tried to step forward, only to find out that she couldn't move, as if boulders had been tied to her feet, she looked down, but couldn't even see her own feet.

"Anybody? Where am I?" She asked as desperation begun to take the best of her. She's been hardened by battle, but _this_ was a first. She tried raising her feet, but nothing, not matter how much strength she'd put into it, she didn't move an inch.

Again, no response.

She tried to look around for anything, any sign of life. Nothing, she couldn't even see her own hands right in front of her, there was just a never ending world of nothing. She wondered what was going on.

She tried to reason her way out of there, but nothing in her mind could come up with an explanation as to what was happening to her. She couldn't help but panic, her mind going into overdrive.

"Someone?! Anyone?! What's going on?!"

It finally dawned on her, she was alone, she wasn't in control, she was at fates whim. She realized that she was feeling something that she had never felt before. Helpless. She was completely helpless and alone.

"Is anyone there?! Anyone!"

Silence. Deafening silence.

"Ela?! Eliza?! Monika?!...Lena."

Nothing. They would not hear her cries. They were really gone, or more accurately, she was gone from them. She couldn't help herself as she laid down on the floor, pulled her knees to her chest and curled into a ball, and cried. She cried as she could do nothing but accept her fate. "Someone…please."

"Hey kiddo." An alien voice broke through the void, ringing her ears in full volume, as if it was right beside her.

She immediately sat up and looked around for the newcomer, disappointed at not being able to see anything at all again; no matter, she wouldn't miss that voice anywhere. "Dad?"

"It's been a long time, Meghan…"

Meghan was taken aback; her father had been killed fifteen years ago when she was still a teenager. If he was talking to her now, did that mean…

"Dad, where are we?" Meghan asked.

She gasped as her father suddenly appeared out of thin air right in front of her. "Don't worry about that."

She took a while to process it all, ending with the conclusion that all of this must be some sort of hallucination; she had nearly forgotten about her history with the latest events in her life. Nevertheless, her long lost father was standing before her, looking the same as the day he left, father she had missed so much. It was all too real to be just a mere hallucination. "Dad.."

"It's wonderful to see you again sweetie." He said with a smile. "You've grown so much."

"I can't believe it, is it actually you?"

"Yes." He took both of her hands in his. "It's me."

Meghan was overwhelmed by an incredible amount of relief and happiness that she got to be with her father once again. Although she wanted to savor that moment for as long as possible, she couldn't help but be worried by all the circumstances surrounding their meeting. She was worried, she's still got to see Eliza, Monika… Ela. Meghan still had unanswered questions. "Dad, what's going on, where are we?"

He gave her a sympathetic look. "I'm afraid I can't answer that."

"What? Then why are you here?"

Her father chuckled, "To see you of course." He stepped forward, wrapping his arms around her shoulders. "I'm so proud of you, Meghan"

She returned the embrace as tears began to flow again, that had been a normal recurrence lately, she noted, "I miss you so much."

"I miss you too, and your mother."

"You know she misses you as well."

"I know. I love you both very much, ah, and I'm happy for you and Ela, too," he said through a gentle smile.

His comment caught Meghan by surprise, who leaned back off the embrace to see her father's figure a little bit better "You know about her?"

"Of course, I've been watching over you since I left. I think you picked a good one this time."

She cringed slightly. "So, you know about the other ones as well?"

"I'm not here to judge." He laughed.

It didn't take more than a split second for her to be reminded about the green-haired girl. Talking about her relationship suddenly caused her to remember what happened back in Honk Kong. She let go of her father so she could look him in the face. "Wait! Ela, is she okay?!"

"I'm afraid I can't answer that either." He looked at his watch. "Looks like we're out of time."

"Out of time, what's that supposed to mean?" Meghan demanded answers.

"I love you kiddo, and I always will. And again, I'm very proud of you." He slowly started to fade.

"Wait! Please don't leave me here!" She begged.

"Give my regards to your mother." He said, ignoring her plea, only to vanish completely.

"Dad, wait!" She shouted at the void again. "Did I at least push her out of the way?! Is she safe?! Dad!"

It was too late, he was gone, and she was alone again. Not only did she get no answers, but now she had even more questions. "Please, don't go," she weakly sobbed.

Out of nowhere, a small light had manifested and caught her attention. It was only the faintest of glows, but it still stood out in clear contrast to the darkness that surrounded her. She tried to get a better look at the strange new phenomenon, only to be reminded that she still couldn't move from her spot. It seemed like that wouldn't be a problem however, as the light soon began to grow. She noticed that it was slowly getting bigger and brighter. As it grew, it seemed to be pushing the darkness away, and she could begin to feel its warmth. Soon she realized that it wasn't stopping, it was growing so bright that it was now blinding. She could barely look directly at it now as it engulfed everything, including her. She didn't feel fear or helplessness, but instead felt peace as it washed over her and she fell into its embrace.

* * *

Her eyes twitched as they slowly opened; the blinding lights above her being difficult to adjust to. Except that wasn't the omnipresent light she's just been engulfed into, these were… ceiling lights? _"Where am I now?"_ She thought. _"And why does everything feel numb?"_ She noticed that unlike before, she could now barely feel anything or even think clearly, and she was still unable to move, although she now felt too weak to even try to. At least she could see.

She strained to move her head to look at her surroundings. She quickly assessed that she was in a bed of some kind. As she looked to her right, she saw a bunch of machines displaying all different kinds of readings, the most obvious of which was a heart monitor. Only then did it finally dawn on her. _"Of course, I'm in a hospital."_ She once again took notice of how she felt numb and figured she was on some kind of medication. _"Did I really get hit that bad?"_

She looked over to her left, and was greeted with the most precious sight she had ever seen. Ela was sitting in a chair with her head resting on the edge of the bed, fast asleep. It looked like the poor girl had tried to stay up all night before succumbing to exhaustion. Meghan noticed the bags under her eyes and the vague remnants of dried tears on the girls face.

She ran her fingers through her girlfriends hair, at which she slightly stirred and let out a small moan. This made Meghan smile as she ran her fingers again and cupped the girls cheek. This finally caused the girl to wake. Ela drowsily lifted her head, still half asleep, she lazily opened her eyes, upon seeing Meghan's eyes staring back at her own, all sense of tiredness disappeared.

"Meghan?" She said, almost unable to believe that she was actually awake. A wave of emotions hit her all at once. She wanted to say everything, and yet, she found herself unable to say anything, her voice completely eluded her. She mirrored her girlfriend and cupped her cheek as well, both simply thankful to be in each other's presence, knowing the other was alright.

"Are you okay?" Meghan asked, her voice hoarse.

Ela let out a small laugh. "You're the one in the hospital bed and you're asking me if I'm alright?"

Meghan smiled back. "I wasn't sure if I pushed you away in time."

"You did." Ela's smile faltered. "You idiot." She moved the oxygen mask away and placed her lips upon Meghan's.

"I'm glad you're okay too." Meghan said after they had tried once again how much time they can live without oxygen being an issue before parting with a gasp. They both missed that feeling greatly.

"Oh." Ela looked down at the floor and kicked something. "Get up."

After a few seconds, the red disheveled hair of Eliza popped up into Meghan's view, still clearly sleep deprived. Like her girlfriend, seeing Meghan awake woke Eliza up better than any amount of caffeine. "Meghan!" She immediately got to her feet and wrapped her arms around the blonde.

The shout was so loud that it shocked Monika out of her sleep. She also popped her head up and noticed her friend had awaken. "Gott sei Dank."

"Nice to see you two are okay." Meghan said as she hugged Eliza back.

"You had us worried there for a minute." Monika said.

"What are you talking about? We knew you were going to be fine." Eliza replied.

"Sure you did." Meghan smiled. "Thanks for taking care of me."

"You should be thanking Gustave." Monika pointed out.

"And Ela." Eliza added. "For bringing you back and whatnot."

"Bringing me back?" Meghan looked at her girlfriend questioningly.

Ela was hesitant about telling her, getting chills from just thinking about it. "Your heart stopped. I performed CPR until it started again."

Meghan grabbed her girlfriends hand. She wasn't sure how to express her thanks, but the look she gave Ela told her everything that words alone could never say.

"I almost lost you." Ela felt like crying, but there were no tears to be shed anymore.

"But I'm still here. And I don't plan on going anywhere." She gave her hand a reassuring squeeze.

"I-I'm glad." Ela managed to crack a smile.

After a moment, Meghan finally asked the question that had been plaguing her mind since she woke up. "How bad was it?"

"A-are you sure you wanna know?." Ela asked with uncertainty; she knew Meghan valued her own physical condition, she was proud of what she had become. She wasn't sure how she would react. "I mean, you're still under treatment and all, w-we don't know if anything's going to change."

"I want to know, Ela."

With a sigh, Ela looked down to the ground; there was no easy way of saying that. "Your left leg took the hit. The explosion tore your artery and you nearly bled out."

Meghan tried to recall the incident, she remembered seeing the bomber and grabbing Ela, after that it was all blank. "Wait! The femoral artery? That could mean…"

She attempted to lift the blanket off of her to see her wound, but Eliza immediately shot forward, grabbing her hands. "Don't."

Meghan looked back at her friend, fear in her eyes. "I-I'm going to lose my leg. I-I can't lose my leg!" Her voice bounced around the walls as genuine fear plagued her vocal cords. They were taken aback, there never was an instance in which they saw Meghan like that - afraid, truly afraid about anything.

"You're not going to lose your leg, Meghan." Eliza tried to reassure her friend, "For now, just be thankful you're still here, with us." Eliza looked at Ela and gestured at her, "With her."

Meghan breathed, she closed her eyes and tried to relax. It was difficult and took her a while, but calming down was probably the best thing she's done so far, now that she managed to think clearly. She opened her eyes, meeting Ela's own gazing at her. Yes, if there was any feeling that should remaining in her, it was gratitude. She grasped Ela's hand again. "Thank you for being here."

"I'm going to let Gustave and the others know you're awake." Monika said as she stepped out of the room.

"Hurry back babe." Eliza said as she blew her girlfriend a kiss, causing the German to roll her eyes.

"So how did the rest of the mission go?" Meghan asked.

"It went well actually." Eliza answered. "We defused both bombs and got both Irvin and Norman out. They're going to be okay."

"Nice. So it was a success?"

"As successful as it could have been."

"That's good to hear." Meghan was relieved to hear that no one else had been hurt. She looked back at her girlfriend. "It looks good on you by the way."

"What?" The Polish girl asked. She followed with her eyes the finger that was pointing to her neck. "Oh." Ela realized what Meghan was referring to, and began undoing the shemagh. "Sorry, Gustave gave it to me and-"

"No." Meghan stopped her from untying the fabric. "I think it looks cute on you."

Ela blushed at the compliment and retied it around her neck. "It helped me actually."

"With what?"

"I spoke to them last night, all of them."

"You mean?"

"Yes." Ela smiled. "And it went really well."

"See, I knew you would be fine."

"Um, what are you two talking about?" Eliza asked, confused.

"It's a long story." Meghan said.

"Well, we have plenty of time."

"I guess if Ela's okay with-" Suddenly Meghan's entire body seized up. Her breathing became erratic, her grip on Ela's hand became so great that it began to hurt.

"Meghan? Meghan!" Ela called her girlfriend's name but she was unresponsive. She pried her hand out of Meghan's and grabbed her by the shoulder's, trying to figure out what was wrong.

"What the hell is happening?!" Eliza asked.

Meghan still wasn't responding, Ela looked up and noticed the readings on her heart rate and other vitals were going crazy. "Get Gustave! Now!."

Eliza, not wasting another second, bolted out of the room, hoping to find their doctor friend, or anyone who could help.

"Meghan," Ela tried to comfort her girlfriend. "Hang on, Eliza's getting help." Ela was starting to panic, the SEAL was just fine a moment ago. Now every muscle in her body was had tensed, her breathing was quick and panicked, and her heart was beating so fast it seemed like it was going to explode. To top it all off, Ela was absolutely powerless, she wanted to try _anything_ to help the girl before her, but she knew that no matter what she tried, she'd just make things worse…

 _Just like everything else,_ she thought. "Just hang in there, please," the Polish girl said as she squeezed the blonde's trembling hands.

None of that mattered, as it all stopped, just as suddenly and unexpectedly as it started. Meghan finally relaxed, her breathing had calmed and after a couple of beeps, the machine indicated that her vitals stabilized. And to Ela's relief, she became coherent again. "What the hell?"

"Meghan! Are you okay?" Ela asked, taken aback by what just happened – she had never seen someone recover from a seizure that fast.

"That…felt…amazing." The blonde responded.

"What?"

"I feel great, for some reason… I feel like I just did a line of coke, but without the side effects." She responded, feeling rejuvenated, as if she was suddenly capable of conquering the world all by herself. "What the hell was that?"

"THAT, was medical science… pushing its boundaries." The two female operators turned to see a panting Gustave beside with Eliza. "Damn, you're too fast," the Frenchmen commented as he walked up to the bed to shook Meghan's hand. "I'm happy to see that you're awake."

"Thank you for helping me, Gustave," Meghan shook Gustave's hand hard, clearly watching as he squinted his eyes in their little impromptu showdown – he was impressed at how she was still so strong after being in bed for so long, "Now, mind explaining to me what just happened?"

"Sorry, I was hoping that you would have woken up earlier so I could warn you, but that doesn't matter anymore." He scratched his head. "The medical procedure that was done to you is highly classified. However, since it's about… yourself, and that you weren't even awake to give consent to it, I feel like you deserve to know everything."

Uncertainty plagued the three women around their resident doctor, his words weren't the most reassuring thing they had heard from him – and that meant something, as Doc was known to be a bit pessimistic.

"I have two colleagues, that I cannot name just yet, who have developed… well, a new kind of technology." He continued. "Nanobots. Tiny robots, thousands of them each the size of a human blood cell, coursing through your veins. That surge you just felt was them activating. Their purpose, to heal all minor and severe injuries to the body, efficiently and quickly. Major wounds, like your leg will take some time, although they'll decrease drastically how long it takes for it to heal. The real deal is when it comes to minor wounds," He removed a couple of layers of the bandages that covered one of the smaller cuts on Meghan's shoulder, "those are healed instantly."

The three operators looked in awe as the cut that was previously there was now completely healed, not even so much as leaving a scar. Meghan peeled off several more bandages, yielding the same result. "That's incredible! Why were you so apprehensive?"

"Because I don't trust a robot to do a human job. How do we know it will do what we want it to do? What if there's a malfunction in the programing, what if it cuts a vein instead of regenerating tissue? The only way we would even catch it is when the patient had already bled out. And in case it falls into the wrong hands, there's no telling the damage they could cause. In my opinion, this crosses a line man was never meant to cross."

Meghan couldn't help to feel concerned as she reminded herself that thousands – if not millions – of nanobots were now treating her instead of Gustave, she wasn't thrilled with the idea of tiny malfunctioning robots killing her from the inside out. All they could do was wait and hope for the best, as even their resident doctor was powerless, a mere spectator.

"But, credit where it is due." He continued, hoping to cure Meghan's fear. "Your procedure is going exactly as planned. Your wounds are healing as well as we projected and we're expecting you to make a full recovery. And yes, that means you are keeping your leg, and its full range of motion. But just a heads up, they will surge like that every few hours for the next few weeks."

"What's going to happen when I'm fully healed?" Meghan asked.

"They will automatically shut down and your immune system will take care of the rest. The white blood cells will then collect them and flush them out of your body naturally."

"This whole thing sounds creepy if you ask me." Eliza commented.

"I agree, however, it was a necessary procedure." Gustave explained. "The fifty-fifty odds I gave you last night…well, they weren't working in your favor."

"You mean…" Meghan began to ask.

"Yes. It looked like we were going to lose you, again." Gustave answered. "I may not see eye to eye with my colleagues, but without them, you wouldn't have made it through the night."

That last statement really hit everyone hard, realizing just how close they were to losing Meghan.

"You pulled through in the end." Eliza pointed out. "That's all that matters."

"Yes." Ela agreed. She kissed Meghan on the lips. "I still have you here with me."

Meghan kissed her back. "Yeah, you still have me." She looked back at Gustave. "So what happens now?"

"I've declared you medically stable and thus, cleared for travel. In a few days you will be flown back to England to make your full recovery."

"Sounds good." She looked at the three of them. "Where's the rest of the team?"

* * *

"What do you mean he's not here?!"

"I mean he's not here."

Isaac and Kowalski were walking through the theme park. The cleanup crew and investigation teams had worked tirelessly through the night investigating what exactly had been going on here and more importantly, find Peterson.

"That's not possible, nobody left the park, he was definitely here when the raid took place." Isaac reasoned.

"Maybe he ran off while the raid was happening, it was chaos after all."

"No. The helicopters had specific orders to look out for anyone attempting to escape through the jungle, they were even equipped with thermal sensors. They reported no one even tried to escape, they all made their last stand here."

"Well, he escaped somehow."

"Are you sure you looked at all of them."

"Ugh, yes." Kowalski answered, irritated that his friend couldn't just take his word. "We spent all night looking at every single one, we even brought back most of the operators to help. Even though they should have been resting like they deserved."

"And you were able to do a facial recognition on all of them?"

"Well there was one guy who had his skull smashed in, and another who was blown up into about six different pieces, but yes, all of them came back negative."

"Are you absolutely sure?"

Kowalski had enough, and he snapped at his longtime leader. "Look, if you want to see for yourself then by all means go ahead!" He gestured towards outside, specifically at the rows of body bags that lined the courtyard. This mission was hands down the bloodiest that Rainbow had ever conducted, and it weighed heavily on some. Enemy or not, it was difficult not to be disturbed by the amount of dead bodies.

Kowalski walked off, while Isaac took a moment to take in the sight. He was so obsessed about getting results that he never really noticed the aftermath. After a moment he turned and caught up with his friend.

"So how do you think he got away?" Isaac asked, finally accepting his results.

"Honestly, I have no clue." Kowalski answered.

"Six isn't going to be happy about this."

"We're not totally out of luck yet." He reassured, "We still have the one we managed to take alive."

"Right." Isaac remembered the man that Frost had knocked unconscious, "Think you can get him to talk?"

"Here's the problem, they're all fanatics, I doubt we'll ever get him to talk. Not without breaking the Geneva Convention."

"I didn't say anything about the fucking Geneva Convention. Can you get him to talk?"

Kowalski stopped and looked at his friend, "Definitely."

"Thank you."

With that, the two men parted ways to take care of business. Isaac walked into one of the multiple tents they had set up around the main building. There he saw his other colleague. "How's it looking?"

McConnell looked up at him with a smile. "It's all here." He gestured to the table in front of them. On it, multiple pieces of circuitry were laid out on display.

"All of it?" Isaac asked.

"Got the schematic right here." He gave Isaac the piece of paper. "Every single component. Granted some of them have a bullet hole in them. But yes, all of it is right here."

It was the radio that Isaac had briefed the team about before the raid. Echo team had managed to successfully recover the piece before the enemy could get their hands on it.

"Where did they find it?"

"In the jungle, about a hundred yards from where Norm and Irvin were posted." He pointed to the spot on the map. "It seems you were right, they were too focused on them to realize what it was. In fact, they probably didn't even notice it was there."

"So, just to clarify, our communications network?"

"Still secret, accessible only by us." He smiled.

Isaac breathed a sigh of relief. "Well, at least that's one crisis averted."

McConnell noticed the stress Isaac was under and decided to try to cheer him up. "Hey, it could have been worse. I mean, yeah we didn't get him, but we still took their headquarters, raided a bunch of their supplies, and inflicted who knows how many casualties."

"One hundred and seventeen." Isaac pointed out.

"And even thought the investigation is still going, we can already draw one conclusion. If this is where they set up their main base of operations; this filthy disgusting abandoned shit hole, then they must be hurting. No matter how you look at it, this was a huge victory for us, and a devastating blow to the White Masks, and it's going to be hard for them to recover. And at what cost to us? Three wounded, all of which are expected to make full recoveries, a damaged helicopter and a broken radio." He put his hand on Isaacs shoulder, "It could have been worse, man. A lot worse."

Isaac didn't say anything, but he took his friends words to heart. McConnell was right, they had won this fight, and nothing could change that. All that was left was for them to wait for Peterson and the rest of his goons to show their faces again. They would definitely get him next time.

He took one last look out into the theme park, noting the destruction and the teams of people working tirelessly to get every bit of information out of the place as they could, making sure not to waste this victory. "I guess we'll just have to wait and see."

* * *

Author's note: I can't believe it's already been a year, and twenty chapters since I started this story. I originally started writing as a new years resolution and I'm happy to say I kept it and I'm still going. I'm also glad we get to celebrate the new year with a new chapter, and the final chapter for Act 3. Don't let that statement fool you, we're not done here, not by a long shot. Whether you've been following me since the beginning or since the last chapter, thank you so much. You guys are awesome and I can't thank you guys enough for making this one of the most popular stories in the fandom. Like always, a special thanks to RStyle for being my beta reader. As always, I hope you enjoyed and feel free to leave a review. Until next time.


	21. Chapter 20

Author's note: And now begins Act 4. Enjoy. Also sexual content.

* * *

What Will It Take?

Chapter 20

* * *

"How does that feel?"

"Feels fine."

"How 'bout that?"

"Still good."

"Alright, what about this?"

"Too much!"

"Okay." She paused and leaned back to right down some notes on her clipboard.

Three weeks had passed since the raid on the theme park and Rainbow team was ordered to return to Hereford for a post-operation briefing and a period off-duty, although still on guard for an emergency. Meghan, seriously injured in battle, was in the base hospital and ready to begin her physiotherapy sessions. The nanobots had done their job; thankfully without causing further complications. Now Gustave and the rest of the hospital staff had decided that she was now fit to start the rehabilitation process to get full function back into her bad leg. It was her first session and one of the nurses was assigned to help her through it. It was a methodical process, as they had to start slow before advancing into more demanding exercises. One of the early processes involved the nurse bending Meghan's leg in different ways to see how much mobility she still had, and what areas still needed work.

The nurse working with Meghan appeared to be in her early twenties, she had pale skin, platinum white hair, and piercing azure blue eyes. After finishing her notes, she continued with the procedure. "Alright, where were we?" She grabbed Meghan's leg once again and lifted up, bending her knee as she did so.

"Um, nurse?" Meghan spoke up.

"Yes?" The nurse looked down and realized the movement had caused the hospital gown Meghan was wearing to slide up; she was wearing nothing underneath, "Oh my gosh! I'm so sorry!" Both of their cheeks burned red at the awkward moment.

"It's alright." Meghan reassured.

"Let me fix that." The nurse offered as she grabbed the garment and pulled it back down.

"Ahem." A voice came from the rooms entrance. They both looked over to see Ela leaning her shoulder against the door frame.

"Oh, hey!" Meghan greeted.

"Hi…" Ela greeted back. She wouldn't admit it to anyone, but what she had just witnessed… uneased her, at the very least, "What's going on here?"

"Oh, this is nurse Avarosa. She's helping me with physical therapy."

"You can call me by my first name, Ashe." The nurse introduced herself to Meghan's girlfriend. "Nice to meet you Ms?"

"Ela." The two of them shook hands, once Ela had moved closer to inspect the woman who worked on her girlfriend.

"Nice to meet you Ela, are you a friend of Meghan's?"

"I'm her girlfriend, actually." Ela said, bluntly.

"Oh." There was a pang of disappointment in her reaction, Ela didn't fail to notice that, "Nice to meet you."

"So what was going on just now."

"Oh, you saw that?" Meghan jumped in, "Slight wardrobe malfunction."

"And what exactly caused this malfunction?" Ela didn't take her eyes off of the nurse, seemingly trying to stare her down. Ashe on the other hand, didn't seem to notice; at the very least, she wasn't fazed by it.

Meghan just had to link the dots to immediately pick up on it, "Ashe, could you give us a moment alone please."

"Of course." The snow haired nurse answered, "I'll just give these notes to Dr. Kateb so he can keep track of your progress."

"Thank you."

Ashe gave them both a smile before leaving the room, Ela all the while never taking her eyes of the girl.

"So why is she doing this with you?" Ela asked as soon as the nurse was out of earshot.

"What do you mean?" Meghan asked, confused. "Physiotherapy is a common procedure for most injuries."

"Seems unnecessary if you ask me." Ela felt a pang of regret on using these words. She did know how that was important for the woman she cared about, but she didn't have much more options to get her point across.

"It's part of my road to recovery."

"To bend your leg?" Ela crossed her arms, she was still looking in the direction that Ashe had just left, despite her being long gone, "I could have done that."

Meghan was confused at her girlfriend's comments; this was extremely out of character for her. She thought about for a moment, not taking much for it to suddenly dawn on her, "Elzbieta Bosak."

Ela visibly cringed at hearing her full name; this caused her to look at Meghan at last.

"Are you jealous?" Meghan asked in a teasing tone.

"What!?" Ela's cheeks immediately turned red, "Of course not!" She immediately replied in denial.

"Oh my gosh, you are!" Meghan couldn't help but smile from the teasing. That was out of this world, Ela had never been in a relationship before, so she's never felt the emotions that come with such an endeavor. This would have been absolutely adorable if Ela hadn't looked like she was about to rip Ashe's heart right out of her ribcage with her bare hands.

"No I'm not. I just don't think you need to be touched by random woman to get better." Ela tried to explain.

"She's not just some woman, Ela. She's a trained nurse, her job is to get me back to full strength as fast as possible." Meghan reassured.

"But…" Ela sighed in defeat, "I know."

"So what's got you so worked up?"

Ela tried her best to explain, "Seeing you…like that."

"You mean with no pants on?"

"Well, yes. With _someone else_ touching you…"

"Ela, you know she was just helping." Meghan grabbed her by the hand, "And I would never do that to you."

"I know, I know." Ela gave her hand a squeeze, "It's just, after our first night together, I realized just how lucky I was to have you. I was looking forward to being with you again. Even during the mission, with bullets flying around us, I found myself craving your touch in an…intimate way again."

"I was looking forward to it as well." Meghan added.

"And then…it happened." Ela reflected on the speechless near-death experience that led to Meghan's injury, "It's like we've had to conquer the world to prove we could be together and I didn't like the thought of losing you to someone else after all we've been through…"

Meghan pulled Ela in for a much needed hug. "You don't have to worry Ela."

"I know." Ela hugged her back, as if she would lose her just by letting go, "But I do."

"Awww." Ashe had returned and was watching the display. Both operators turned to look at her, Ela with murder in her eyes once again, "I ruined the moment, didn't I?"

"Kind of." Ela said under her breath. Meghan glanced at her girlfriend beside her and tried her best to suppress the urge of giggling.

"Sorry Ela, but we have to continue with Meghan's therapy and I'm afraid that visitors aren't allowed due to privacy reasons."

"I understand." Ela said as she got up to leave, but not before planting one more solid kiss on Meghan's lips. Making sure Ashe was fully aware of what was hers.

"Have a good day." Meghan said, once she caught her breath.

"Oh I will." Ela responded, "Today Maxim is teaching me some new stabbing techniques." As she made that last statement, she made sure not to break eye contact with Ashe. She then finally left the room.

"I'm sorry about that." Meghan apologized.

She expected Ashe to look upset, instead the white haired nurse had a smile on her face. "You're really lucky to have her."

"What?"

"I don't know why, but I find it really attractive when someone defends their significant other like that, especially when they can pull off a good death glare." Ashe explained, "Oh, and when she brought up using knives, that was awesome."

Now it was Meghan's turn to be fazed, and slightly jealous. Ela was worried that Ashe was stealing Meghan away, but it turned out that the nurse had her eyes on the Polish girl the whole time. "That's attractive to you?"

"Oh, I'm sorry." Ashe seemed to realize that she had just told Meghan she had been swooning over her girlfriend, "I know she's yours, you don't have to worry, it's just…your girlfriend is really hot."

Meghan couldn't help but laugh at the younger woman's antics. "Am I going to have to hide her from you?" She asked jokingly.

"Trust me, you don't need to worry." Ashe blushed, "I prefer redheads anyway."

"If you say so." Meghan said, "I didn't even realize you were into women."

"Well…" Ashe started, "It's complicated."

"What do you mean?"

"You see, I've only recently felt an attraction towards other women." She explained, "However, I've yet to…confirm if this attraction is real or just a phase."

"And let me guess, you also don't want to just hook up with some random girl to confirm it either?"

"Exactly. I want something genuine and romantic."

"I admire that." Meghan commented. "I remember what it was like finding out."

"How did you find out you liked women anyway?" Ashe asked, curiously, "If you don't mind me asking."

"Back in high school, I caught my boyfriend having sex with another girl." Meghan explained, "I let the son of a bitch take my virginity just two days before."

Ashe had a look of disgust on her face, "What an asshole. I'm sorry to hear that."

"I was depressed and heartbroken." Meghan continued, "One of my good friends came over and tried to console me. My mom wasn't home and I was so pissed that I decided to raid the liquor cabinet, we got drunk for the first time together. One thing led to another and well, we ended up making out. I can't remember who started it, but we made out for a good while. I was so drunk off my ass that I figured, first time getting laid, first time getting cheated on, first time getting drunk, fuck it, first time fucking a girl. Part of me did it out of curiosity, another part just wanted to get back at him for what he did."

"So, you found out you were bisexual from being an angry drunk?" Ashe asked.

"I know, I'm a horrible person." Meghan felt terrible reliving the scenario.

"No, you're not." Ashe reassured, "He's the horrible person. At least you learned something important about yourself."

"Yeah, I guess that was the only good thing to come out of the whole ordeal."

"What happened with you and your friend?"

"We dated in secret for a while, then we eventually moved on, we broke up on good terms at least."

"That's good."

"Yeah, I guess." Meghan felt oddly relieved. She had never told anyone that story before, it felt nice to get it off her chest.

"Shall we continue with the session?"

"Sure."

"Now, where did we leave off?" Ashe grabbed Meghan's leg and the two continued with the physical therapy.

* * *

"So what do you want to do?"

"Nothing."

Eliza and Monika were alone in the barracks lounge. The two of them laying on one of the couches, a blanket draped over them. Monika had her back pressed into Eliza's chest while the redhead wrapped her arms around her waist. The TV was on, but neither of them were really paying attention to the movie that was playing.

"Nothing at all?" Eliza asked, having the feeling in the back of her head that she was doing something wrong.

"Nothing at all." Monika confirmed.

"You don't want to go out and have some fun?"

"Nein."

Eliza thought this was out of character for her girlfriend, "You're not going to get bored?"

"I'm here relaxing with you. How could I ever get bored?" The blonde answered.

" _There it is."_ Eliza thought, "Well aren't you just the sweetest girlfriend ever?" The two of them shared a deep and loving kiss.

"I know." Monika smiled, "Besides, how long has it been since we've had a day to relax?"

"Fair point." Eliza began playing with Monika's hair. The German always loved the feeling of the redhead's hands flowing smoothly through her gold tresses. After a few minutes of the gentle massage, Eliza hatched a mischievous idea, as she always does, "I know what we can do."

Monika was so enthralled by the fingers running through her locks that she didn't quite catch the remark. She did however, notice Eliza's other hand slip under the waistband of her jeans, "What are you doing?!" She asked as she immediately grabbed the invading arm.

"Having some fun." Eliza answered playfully. She reached back downward as if nothing had happened, until Monika grabbed her hand again, "Come on, just relax."

"I'm not sure if you noticed idiot, but we're still in the lounge."

"And that's what makes it so fun."

"You're insane."

"Come on babe, I we haven't had sex since before China. Don't you want to mess around a bit?" Eliza started rubbing her fingers up and down Monika's leg.

If only Eliza knew. Monika was just as eager for her girlfriends touch, if not more so, "We can go to my room." She began to get up when Eliza grabbed her and pulled her back down.

"No, I want to do it here." Eliza said in a lustful tone. She undid the button to Monika's jeans and slid her hand in once again. Her other hand began groping her breast from outside of her shirt.

Monika's cheeks were turning red and her breath was ragged. She grabbed the hand that was down her pants by the wrist, "Eliza, please stop." She panted as she tried to squirm free but Eliza's grip was too strong.

"I know you want it."

"Yes, but not here."

"Why not?"

"Because we can't."

"Oh we definitely can." All Monika did was make Eliza see it as another enticing excuse for another wild experience in their relationship. She was getting more aroused with the whole situation by the second, and seeing how nervous Monika was only spurred her on more.

"What if someone sees us?" Monika asked, looking around as if someone might have already caught them.

"How?" Eliza answered her question with another question, "Everyone is either out, or in their rooms. If someone comes close, we'll hear them a mile away."

"I still think this is a bad idea."

"Besides, we'll be under the blanket." Eliza began rubbing Monika's center through her panties, she could feel the wetness begin to form, "Admit it, you secretly enjoy this."

Monika was still apprehensive, she had given up on trying to stop Eliza's rubbing and groping, "I absolutely do not enjoy this."

"Yes you do, I can tell."

"How can you possibly tell?"

"Because you haven't grabbed my ponytail." The redhead began to kiss her on the neck.

Monika opened her mouth to let out a retort, but she couldn't control herself as a soft moan came out instead.

"Atta girl." Eliza slipped her fingers beneath Monika's undergarments, "Just don't make any loud noises and we'll be just fine."

Monika gave her an annoyed look, she knew their love making sessions were rarely on the quiet side, "If someone catches us, I'm breaking up with you."

"We'll see about that." Eliza smiled, knowing it was a hollow threat. She slowly began rubbing her fingers between the wet folds, quickly finding Monika's clit out of experience and rubbing gentle circles around it.

Monika was slowly being more enticed by her girlfriends touch. She was biting her lip as all worries of being caught were slowly melting away from the pleasure heating up between her legs. Without warning, Eliza inserted a finger inside of her.

"AH-" She let out before she quickly cupped a hand over her own mouth.

"Shh." Eliza teased, "I thought you didn't want to get caught, remember?"

Monika pulled the hand off of her mouth once she recovered, "You're not-HMM, making this easy."

The whole time, Eliza did not cease or slow down her movements as she added another finger, "That's the point."

"You are absolutely-AH, evil."

"I know." Eliza flashed her a wicked grin before locking her lips with the blonde's.

Monika returned the kiss hungrily, both from raw lust and because she knew it would help keep her mouth shut. Eliza only picked up the pace of her nimble fingers, adding to Monika's pleasure, "OH-" She nearly yelled again before Eliza cupped her mouth with her free hand.

"Now, now beautiful." Eliza cooed, "You have to try harder than that."

Monika let out a series of whimpers from beneath her hand. This was almost torture for her, and she knew Eliza was enjoying every minute of it. Her girlfriend was truly an evil mastermind when it came to this sort of thing, and it bothered her that it turned her on so much. Eventually, Eliza moved her hand and Monika took two of her fingers into her mouth, hopefully quieting any more loud moans in the process.

Eliza continued to move her fingers inside of her, curling them and using her palm to rub against Monika's clit, bringing her the maximum amount of pleasure. This was heaven for her, running her hands over the body of the person she loved so much. Holding Monika close as she surrendered herself to Eliza's touch. It was a ritual they had performed countless times in the two years they had been together, and one Eliza would cherish, hopefully for the rest of her life.

Monika was in pure bliss; Eliza knew every inch of her body. She knew exactly where to touch and how to touch it, every possible thing that she could to elevate the pleasure she could give her, and it was beginning to show, "Eliza, I'm close." The stimulation building between her legs was almost too much for her to take.

"Cum for me babe." Eliza began fingering her as fast as she could move her hand.

Monika arched her back and shut her eyes, ready for her to become undone right then and there.

Suddenly the door to the lounge swung open, "Ta brudna, białowłosa suka." Ela stormed in, muttering to herself in Polish. Luckily, she was too caught up in what was bothering her that she hadn't noticed what Eliza and Monika were doing, both of which had practically frozen in place.

"Hey Ela." Eliza greeted, "How's Meghan?"

"I wouldn't know." Ela answered, "Why don't you ask her new nurse?"

"New nurse? What's that supposed to mean?" Monika asked, trying her best to recompose herself before the polish operator noticed that she was all cross-eyed and sweaty.

"She has a new nurse to help her recover." Ela explained, "And the first thing I see when I walk in is her hands all over Meghan's bare leg."

Eliza's eyes went wide. "She's cheating on you with a nurse?!" She was about to jump out of the couch and go on a nurse-killing rampage before she reminded herself the state they were in.

Ela realized how wrong of a picture she just gave, "No. She was just helping her with her physical therapy. But it looked more intimate than necessary. I'm not happy with it."

"So, she was just trying to help?" Monika clarified.

"Yeah, kinda."

"Well that not a big-AH-deal." Eliza still had her fingers deep inside of Monika, and she began to move them again.

Ela couldn't see what was happening because of the blanket, but noticed Monika's yelp, "Are you okay?"

"Yes." Monika answered, "Just feeling a little under the-AH-weather."

"Is that why you two are under the blanket?"

"Yes-HMMM, that's exactly why." Monika quickly flashed her girlfriend a pleading look, silently begging for her to stop. Eliza only gave her a mischievous smile in return and continued to roughly pump her fingers in and out of her.

"Yeah, and I have to take good care of my beautiful girl." Eliza added.

Ela crossed her arms, "Wish I could do the same." She muttered.

"Oh, do you now?" Eliza chuckled, all the while continuing her mischief in Monika's pants.

Ela sighed. "I want to be the only one to touch her…like that." It was embarrassing to admit, but Eliza and Monika were the only other people besides Meghan that she was somewhat comfortable telling this kind of thing.

"But as you said, she was only trying to help." Eliza pointed out, ""It's just part of her healing process, it's not like she's trying to steal her away from you."

"Right." Ela agreed.

"Mmmm." Monika whined.

"And besides, does this nurse even like girls?"

Ela thought for a moment. "I guess I'm not sure."

"Remember, not every girl you meet is gay or bi." Eliza gave it some thought, "Although in your case, it's a surprising amount that are."

"It's just…seeing someone with their hands on her didn't sit well with me." Ela clarified, "Especially when I can't."

"Ah, I see." Eliza said, "You want to _fuck_ her." As she emphasized the word, she shoved her fingers as deep as they would go, causing Monika to let out a barely audible whimper. She was on the edge of the world again, which was only made more intense from having missed the first one, and it was getting harder to control her own body.

Ela's cheeks turned red, but Eliza was right, "I was trying to be mature about saying it…but yes, that's part of it."

"Have you two even done it yet?"

Ela wasn't even sure why she was talking about this, "Yes, once before we left for China."

"So you got had the experience and now you want to do it again."

At this point Monika had given up on talking and was focused on trying not to orgasm right in front of her friend, especially while she was going through personal trouble. Her body was trembling, her toes were curled and she was gripping the blanket so hard she was surprised it didn't tear. She had to get Eliza back for this, somehow.

"It's more than sex that I want, I miss her." Ela admitted, "I miss having her next to me in bed and being the first thing I see when I wake up."

"Well you're just going to have to be patient. I'm one-hundred percent sure Meghan feels the same way, if not more. You're the most precious thing in the world to her right now." Eliza reassured, "As for this nurse, I'm positive that you have nothing to worry about, she's just trying to do her job, which if you think about it, only benefits you because it will get Meghan out of the hospital and back to you faster."

Ela thought hard over Eliza's words, "I guess you're right."

"Look, I know it's hard having to go all the way to the hospital just to see her, but the both of you have been through a lot. You two are more than strong enough to get through this chapter of your relationship."

"You think so?"

"I know so." Eliza said with her usual confidence.

"Thanks." Ela smiled, her mind finally at ease.

"Anytime."

"I guess I'll leave you two alone." Ela said as she turned to leave, "I hope you feel better, Monika."

"Thank-AH-thank you."

As soon as the door to the lounge closed, Monika let out the loud moan she had been holding in for what felt like an eternity. Her back arched and her hips bucked against the hand that was still pleasuring her. For a solid thirty seconds her whole body spasmed as she experienced the ecstasy from the orgasm Eliza had given her.

Eliza pulled her girlfriend close, wrapping her free arm around her girlfriends torso while her other hand still had her fingers buried inside of Monika's warm flower. Eventually, Monika's body calmed down and she relaxed into her girlfriends embrace.

Eliza was still methodically moving her fingers inside of Monika, albeit much more gently. She began planting soft kisses along her neck as Monika was still breathing heavily. Her body would twitch every now and then from her fingers, as her whole body was now really sensitive.

After taking a few minutes to fully recover, she pulled Eliza's hand out of her pants, which now had a large and noticeable wet spot on them. She turned around to give her girlfriend the most menacing death stare that she could.

Eliza responded with a look of innocence, "What?" She asked playfully before sticking her two fingers in her mouth, licking them clean.

Monika grabbed the redhead by the shoulders and pinned her back down on the couch, "You are so going to pay for that."

Eliza was more excited than anything to see what her girlfriend had in store for her.

* * *

Ela walked up to the second floor towards her room, when she noticed a familiar figure standing outside of her door. "Isaac?"

The man turned and looked at her, "Oh hey. I was looking for you."

"I was just at the hospital visiting Meghan." She explained.

"Right. How is she?"

"She's doing very well, actually." Ela told him, "She's starting physiotherapy today. Hopefully she'll be back in action soon."

"Hopefully." Isaac agreed.

"So what did you need?"

"Speaking of recovering, Norman and Irvin are being released from the hospital tomorrow. We're all going out to celebrate, want to go?"

Ela brightened up at the invitation, "Of course."

Since that meeting back in China, Ela and the rest of her team had gotten much closer. In fact, Isaac was comfortable saying that they were now all just as close as they were ten years ago. Ela might not have said the same, but that was only due to her pessimistic nature.

However, there was still one issue that plagued Isaac's mind. He had still yet to inform Ela about Peterson. She had yet to ask anything, and he hadn't found a good time to tell her. He was worried that she wouldn't take it well, considering that the very last interaction between the two had been very bitter, and that she still, at least to some degree, blamed herself for what had happened. For now, Isaac figured, they would simply enjoy being reunited, there was no need to dampen the mood just yet.

"Where are we going?" Ela asked, breaking his train of thought.

"Our favorite bar down the road, our friend Grag owns it. The guy knows how to make a good drink."

"Sounds fun."

"And you'll get to meet the families too."

"Families?"

"Yeah. Norman's wife and kid, Irvin's husband, McConnell's wife, and Kowalski's got a fiancé."

"Oh, right. I forgot you've all grown up." Ela teased.

"Yeah, look who's talking Ms. Thirty-years-old-and-just-started-my-first-relationship." Isaac shot back.

"Well, what about you, is there a Mrs. Isaac I get to meet?"

"No, but there are two ex-Mrs. Isaacs out there."

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that."

"It was a long time ago, I've moved past it."

An awkward silence passed between them.

"So tomorrow?" Ela clarified.

"Right. I'll text you the time." Isaac said.

"Perfect, can't wait." Ela said, looking forward to the celebration.

Isaac took his leave as Ela opened the door to her room, before she walked in, a thought crossed her mind.

"Isaac." She called out. The man turned around to see what she wanted. "Can I ask you for a favor?"

* * *

Author's note: And we start of the Act with a..."bang." We haven't had a smut scene in a while and it felt overdue. Now we get to follow Meghan and her road to recovery, and Ela gets to find out what it means to be in an actual relationship. Just to clarify, it's Ashe from League of Legends not Overwatch, the two look so similar. As always, I hope you enjoyed and feel free to leave a review. Until next time.


	22. Chapter 21

Author's note: I actually released a chapter on time, this hasn't happened in ages! As always, thank you RStyle for being the beta reader for this chapter. Enjoy.

* * *

What Will It Take?

Chapter 21

* * *

"Cheers." An echo bounced around the walls just as the sound of glass colliding filled the spacious pub.

"To good health, and not getting captured again."

Everyone clinked their shot glasses together before each one of them downed it's contents. The distilled liquid hitting them hard, some worse than others. Two of them had finally recovered from their wounds and the group had spent all day celebrating at one of the local bars.

"Oh man, that burns." McConnell commented.

"Jeez Grag, what did you put in that, diesel fuel?" Kowalski asked.

"Old family recipe." The large man answered with his thick Scottish accent.

"I feel like I already have alcohol poisoning," Norman coughed, "I'll take two more."

"You okay Bosak?" Irvin asked.

The Polish operator was already swaying back and forth, "I-I'm fine."

"Seems you've become a lightweight over the years." Isaac commented with a chuckle.

"Odwal się." She responded.

"What?"

She turned to face the team leader, "I said piss off, I'm fine."

"I'd believe that if you hadn't just said that to a wall."

Ela focused her eyes and realized that she had in fact, just told a picture on the wall to piss off. The rest of the gang burst out laughing, "Maybe that last one was enough."

"You think?" Isaac asked sarcastically.

"I think I should head back." The green haired girl said.

"You sure?" Norman asked. "We're just getting started."

"I haven't consumed this much alcohol in one day since I was a teenager." Ela explained as she paid her tab, "If I keep this up, it'll be my turn to go to the hospital. Besides, I have to visit Meghan in the morning."

"Fair enough."

Ela gave Norman and Irvin each a hug, "I'm glad you two are better."

"Thanks, and tell Meghan to get better soon, we both owe her a drink for busting us out." Irvin said.

"Oh she will definitely cash in on that." Ela turned to leave, but stumbled on her way out.

"Whoa there, you good?" Isaac asked concerned.

"I'll be fine." She repeated as that was a mantra before stumbling on her own feet again, dismissing her previous statement.

"I'll take you back to base." He said before paying his own tab and giving his farewells to the rest of the guys as well.

The two began walking back toward Hereford base. Isaac didn't really think that Ela needed help making her way back, it was only a short walk. However, he did need some time alone with her to discus certain matters.

"Have fun?" He asked, attempting to make small talk.

"Yes, it was nice to get out for once, just like old times." She answered.

"Yeah, just like old times." He repeated the phrase. Well, now was as good a time as any, he knew he should have brought this up a long time ago, but better late than never, "Ela, speaking of old times, there's something we need to talk about."

"Are you finally going to tell me about Peterson?" She asked, already knowing what this was about.

"So you have been wondering?"

"You think I just didn't give any thought as to why the last member of our squad wasn't here?" She responded, harshly, "Or did you think I didn't care?"

"It's just, you never asked."

"I thought it wasn't my place to ask, I didn't want to bring up any painful memories."

"So you were willing to deny yourself closure for my sake?"

"You do remember that I thought that you all still hated me? I didn't really deserve… closure." Ela said as she looked down at the sidewalk as she walked. By the looks of it, it had rained before but none of them had noticed it because of the noise in the pub.

"Right…"

"So what happened?" She asked. Isaac figured that it was probably a good thing that they were currently intoxicated for this conversation, "Is he dead? Did he retire? Did he finally wise up and leave all this bullshit behind?"

Isaac could tell her anxiety was growing, "Look, there's no easy way to say this. I'll start at the beginning."

Ela gave him her full attention.

"After what happened, and you left, we were kind of just…broken. We had no idea what to do, after taking such a heavy loss, we weren't fit to go out and fight. All of us had different ways of coping with what happened, but when they offered us replacements for everyone who had died, none of us would have it. So they sent us back state-side, doing paper work and whatnot."

"Peterson was with you the whole time?" She asked.

"The whole time." He answered. "Then, seven years ago, Vegas happened. We were sent in as one of the ground teams to try to stop the terror threat, in fact we got to work alongside the old Rainbow Team. However, the attack was so sudden and intel was so scrambled that we were sent to the completely wrong area. The stadium was destroyed and hundreds of innocent people were killed. Although Rainbow ultimately managed to take down those responsible, their failure to stop the stadium bombing led congress to declare the team a failure and they were disbanded."

Ela recalled hearing about the incident, the Las Vegas stadium bombing of 2010 was the most devastating attack on America since the attack on the World Trade Center nearly a decade earlier.

"However, five years after it's disbanding, Six, the current one, managed to convince the leaders of the world that with the White Masks on the rise, Team Rainbow was once again needed. They agreed, but only on the condition that they would fall under control of the United Nations and not just the US."

Ela listened intently, this unexpected history lesson on her current organization was quite informative, but she didn't see what it had to do with their missing teammate.

"Before Rainbow could start gathering the team of operators you know today, Six needed a group that could get the organization on it's feet, gather intel, manage equipment, things like that. That's where we stepped up. After seeing what the former Rainbow team was capable of, we wanted to help them out, and with our record, Six hired all of us on the spot."

"So you all helped start this whole thing?"

"More like revive it, but yes."

"What does all of this have to do with him?"

"Well, during the early days, Peterson wanted to do more than work in logistics. He wanted to be an operator and signed up as a new recruit. By that time, I had moved up in rank enough to have a say in the selection process. He thought this meant a guaranteed spot on the team. Unfortunately, he was wrong, I gave him an honest assessment, he didn't meet the mark. He didn't take it well. He felt betrayed, after all we had been through, he didn't understand how I could deny him operator status. I tried to explain to him that he didn't meet all the criteria and letting him pass though would only put himself and those around him at risk. He wouldn't have it, he terminated his contract and cut all ties with us completely."

Ela felt a pang in her heart, knowing that the five of them had to go through the pain of having a member walk away for a second time, "How could he?"

"You know how he was, cocky, overconfident and a drama queen."

"But still, to cut ties because of that."

"It only gets worse from there, I'm afraid."

"How?"

"Ela, I don't know how to tell you this," He stopped and faced his friend so he could look her in the eye, "He's one of them."

Ela had to take some time to process the statement, "What do you mean by 'them'?"

"He's a White Mask."

"No." Ela backed away from him, unable to believe what he had just told her, "No, no, no. There's no way. He was an asshole but there's no fucking way he would do that."

"I didn't want to believe it either, but it's the truth."

"No!" Tears were beginning to stream down her face. "How do you know? How can you be certain?"

"Here." He pulled out his smartphone and handed it to her, a snapshot of a picture from the scout mission prior to the raid was shown on screen. "See for yourself."

Ela took the picture and examined it close, it had been ten years, but there was no mistaking the familiar face. It was him, standing among the enemy that had caused so much pain over the years, and looking proud to be one of them, "Why?" She could barely choke out the question.

"We don't know." Was his only response, he truly didn't know Peterson's motivations for joining the terror group.

Ela couldn't take her eyes off of the picture, she took in every detail, not just of her old ally, but of those surrounding him. Then, she picked up on something, it was a small detail, but one that had unknowingly been burned into her memory. A pair of eyes, through the holes in one of the masks, that's all she could see, but it was enough. It was the White Mask that had nearly killed her during the raid, she recognized the anger and hatred that filled them. She looked at the other details in the picture, trash everywhere, along with broken equipment. This was enough for Ela to connect the dots, "This was at the theme park."

Isaac could only nod in response.

"He was there." Ela was now shaking. "He was there, wasn't he?! During the raid, and you didn't tell us, you didn't tell me!" Ela had a grim thought, "Did we…"

"No." He answered the unfinished question, "He escaped, we don't know how."

"How could you not tell me? What if I had been the one to kill him?" Ela was now crying, this revelation was too much for her to handle.

"Because I needed you to be one hundred percent focused on the mission, I knew that going after Norman and Irvin would affect you already." He explained, "And I was angry. He took both of them, Ela."

"What do you mean?"

"When Norman and Irvin were compromised, he was the one who ordered them to be taken prisoner and do God knows what to them, they still won't talk about what happened, only that he was responsible for their pain and suffering."

Ela was now speechless. How could he hurt the men he once called his brothers?

"Look, as hard as it is to accept, he's changed for the worse, and we have to stop him." He grabbed her by the shoulders, "As long as he's one of them, he and the rest of them will only continue to hurt as many people as they can, for God's sake, you saw what they did to Meghan. Six and I need you and all of team Rainbow's help to bring them to justice, Ela. Can I count on you?"

Ela was still in shock, she hated the idea of killing an old friend, but the soldier in her knew it was a necessary sacrifice for the greater good. She couldn't look him in the eye, but gave him an answer, "Yes. I'll help you."

He wrapped his arms around her, knowing how hard this was for her, "Thank you."

Ela returned the embrace, she felt like she was on an out of control roller coaster. "I think I need to lay down."

"I understand." He let go of her, "Listen, take it easy for a few days, you've earned it. I know this is a lot to take in."

By now, the two of them had made it back to Hereford and were heading inside.

"Oh that reminds me." He pulled out an envelope and handed it to her, "The favor you asked for."

This was enough to slightly brighten Ela's mood, "Thank you so much."

"No problem." He gave her a pat on the shoulder, "I'll see you around."

They then went their separate ways, Ela heading into the barracks while Isaac made his way back to the pub. The burden of this new reality weighed heavily on her shoulders, she questioned, if it really came down to it, would she really be able to bring herself to do what needed to be done.

* * *

"So where's your girlfriend?" Asked Ashe as she helped Meghan move her leg. The SEAL now on the second day of her physical therapy.

"What, you want her to threaten you again?" Meghan teased, "Or did you want to check her out some more?"

"No…maybe a little." Ashe blushed, "It's just, I thought she visited you every day."

"Normally yes, but she has some old friends who got discharged from the hospital today and they went out to celebrate."

"Oh, that's nice." She grabbed Meghan's leg by the thigh to begin the next exercise. "Um…for this exercise, I'm going to have to…"

"What?"

Ashe, too embarrassed to say it out loud, motioned with her hands that she would have to spread Meghan's legs open; she still wasn't wearing any undergarments.

"Oh." Now it was Meghan's turn to blush, "That's…fine."

Ashe gently spread Meghan's legs apart, "How's that?"

"Fine." Meghan knew this was a professional and necessary exercise, but she still felt a little dirty. She didn't want to imagine what would happen if Ela were currently in the room.

"So THAT'S why she was so upset yesterday." Eliza had come into the hospital room at the best possible moment; or worst depending on who you asked.

"You have impeccable timing." Meghan sighed, embarrassed but realizing that it was probably better that Eliza had walked in on them rather than her girlfriend.

Ashe quickly closed Meghan's legs and fixed her hospital gown.

"So the physical therapy is going well I see." Eliza commented.

"I'm sorry but who are you?" Ashe asked, "This is supposed to be a private session."

"Oh is it? How much extra for the happy ending?" Eliza teased the nurse.

Ashe realized how badly worded her last statement was and her blush deepened. "T-that's not what I-"

"Eliza, enough." Meghan chastised.

"I'm just messing around." The redhead walked closer to the nurse to introduce herself; as she did so, Meghan noticed she was walking a bit odd, "Eliza Cohen, FBI SWAT…and Meghan's best friend."

Once Ashe got a better look at the new comer, her demeanor perked up a bit as she shook hands with her, "Ashe Avarosa, Meghan's private nurse."

Meghan picked up on the not so subtle hint and was surprised by the woman's boldness having just met Eliza. She did say she was attracted to redheads, she supposed, "Don't bother Ashe, this ones taken. Lord knows how." Meghan said, "You wouldn't want her anyway, she's always causing trouble."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Eliza said as she walked up to Meghan's bed, again walking slightly off.

"Oh, I see." Ashe's disappointment was apparent.

"Don't worry, we could set you up with our friend Taina." Eliza offered, "Are you into Brazilian girls?"

"You are not unleashing that chaos and mayhem upon this young woman!" Meghan shouted unexpectedly.

Eliza looked at her confused, "What the hell happened between you two?"

"I don't want to talk about it, just keep her away from Ashe, and people in general for that matter." Meghan crossed her arms. Once again she noticed the redhead was walking funny, "What's up with you?"

"What do you mean?"

"Why are you walking all weird?"

"Oh." Now it was Eliza's turn to blush, "Uh, Monika decided to try something new yesterday and now it's uh…little difficult to walk."

"Something new, like a new workout?"

"It was a type of physical activity, yes."

"Well why don't you sit down and rest?" Meghan suggested, now realizing what the activity was.

"…I can't"

"Oh for goodness sake." Ashe said, pinching the bridge of her nose. She walked over to one of the medicine cabinets and pulled out a small bottle, "Here, take two of these each morning. Also be sure to sit in a warm bath at least twice a day. Keep doing that until the soreness in gone."

Eliza took the bottle, still embarrassed, "Thanks, I guess."

"Wow, Monika sure did a number on you." Meghan commented.

"Well, I kind of deserved it, after what I did to her." Eliza reasoned, "By the way, your girlfriend nearly caught us."

Meghan was confused, "What, how did she almost catch you? She, unlike some people, actually knocks before going into someone's room."

"Well…we weren't exactly in my room…or Monika's."

"Then where were you?"

"…In the lounge."

"Oh for God's sake, what's wrong with you? The entire team hangs out in there!" Meghan shouted, already making a plan for disinfecting the entire lounge when she got back, "What the hell were you two thinking?"

"We were…excited and didn't want to go all the way to her room."

"By that do you mean YOU were horny and didn't listen to Monika when she said you should go to her room?"

"…You know us so well."

"What am I going to do with you?"

"The question you need to ask yourself is what are you going to do with Ela?" Eliza changed the subject.

"What do you mean?" The blonde inquired.

"When she almost caught us, we talked for a bit and oh man, she's going up the walls for a certain Navy SEAL."

"Okay, I know for a fact you're exaggerating." Meghan responded, "We talked about our relationship, and our…intimate time, she just misses me is all."

"I think she was being modest because she didn't want to distract you." The redhead countered, "Because the way she talked, she sounded like she was losing her mind."

"Whatever, why are you even telling me this?"

"I'm just giving you a heads up. When you finally get out of this hospital, be prepared for some very serious 'intimate time'."

Ashe let out a sigh, "And I can't even get a text back."

* * *

"So, do you feel like talking yet?" Dominic asked, he calmly tapped his jumper cables together, causing them to ark.

"Fuck you." Came a weak response.

"That's too bad." He clamped both cables to each of the man's hands and watched as the electricity from the battery, coursed through his body.

"AAAARRRGGHH!" The prisoner's entire body seized up. All he could do was scream in pain.

After about ten seconds, Dominic removed the clamps, "You've been locked up in this room for weeks, isn't it getting old?"

They had kept him in here ever since they had brought him back form China. Currently, he was tied to a wooden chair, his face and body bloody and bruised from the different torture techniques they had tried so far. Dominic had to admit, the man was resilient, but everyone had a breaking point.

"I'll never tell you anything!"

"Then I guess you and that chair are about to get very acquainted." He clamped them on his hands again. He felt no pity as the man once again screamed and squirmed in pain. Some might call him heartless, he liked to think of it as an opportunity, it wasn't often you got to see one that wasn't already dead or shooting back at you.

Again after ten seconds, he stopped the shocking, "Come on, I'm missing my day off because of this. Give me something."

"Go to hell."

This wasn't getting anywhere, Dominic decided to try a new approach, "Listen my friend, we've been at this for hours. Can't you just make it easier on both of us? Where did the rest of your friends go?" He put his hand on his shoulder, "Tell me where they are, and I get you out of this chair and into an actual room, do we have a deal?"

"I'm not your friend, asshole!" He screamed, "Most of my friends are in body bags now thanks to you fuckers, I may rot in here, but I take great pleasure in knowing that those who made it out are going to make every single one of you pay with your lives."

Dominic leaned in close, "I'll have you know, that that's not going to happen. Any of your friends that try to take us on will only end up in more body bags. Why don't you save them from that fate and tell me where they're going next."

Instead of words, the man responded by spitting in the German's face.

Dominic let out a sigh as he wiped off the mixture of blood and spit off of him, "If that's the way you're going to be." He threw his hands up in the air in defeat and stood up, "I guess it's time for you to meet the bad cop."

The man narrowed his eyes at him, "I thought you were the bad cop."

"No my friend, no." Dominic let out a small laugh, "I'm actually rooting for you, I offered you a way out, I actually want to get to know you, see what makes you tick. Bad cop is…not so generous."

As if on cue, the door to the interrogation room opened and in walked none other than Taina Pereira, wearing her mostly black BOPE uniform. Standing up strait with hands behind her back as she walked and carrying a wicked smile on her face. Her signature skull face paint was absent, but it truly wasn't needed. She carried an aura with her that made anyone within the vicinity uneasy, making her mere presence intimidating enough. She slowly walked towards the restrained man, who said nothing as he tried to stare her down, to no avail.

"You know, I was very disappointed when they said I wouldn't be going out there to China." She said as she began to circle around him, like a predator about to close in on her prey, "One hundred and seventeen dead. Such a waste, I would have loved the chance to talk to some of them before we tossed them in the garbage, they always get so talkative before they bleed out."

He didn't say anything, but she could tell she struck a nerve with the terrorist. She brought her knife out from behind her back and used the dull side to raise his chin, forcing him to look at her. Behind his cold demeanor, she could see the smallest hint of fear, "Who the fuck are you?"

Another evil smile appeared on her lips, "Eu sou o tira mau."

"I'll leave you two alone." Dominic said and he exited the room.

"Last chance." Taina offered.

"Go to hell bitch. You can't do anything to break me."

She let out a small laugh, "I'll give you a taste of what I can do, desgraçado."

* * *

Author's note: I've wanted Caveira to make another appearance for a while and I hope I did her character justice. When I originally started writing this story, my goal was one chapter every two weeks, that hasn't happened for a while. Hopefully I can keep it up, but as you know, life has a tendency to get in the way of things. As always, hope you enjoyed and feel free to leave a review. Until next time.


	23. Chapter 22

Author's note: Here's the next chapter. Heads up, slightly sexual content. Enjoy.

* * *

What Will It Take?

Chapter 22

* * *

They wrapped their arms around one another before slowly bringing their lips together in a gentle yet hungry kiss. The two lovers were currently in Ela's room. Ela pulled Meghan as close as she could, wrapping one of her legs around the blonde, longing for as much physical contact as possible, oh how she had missed this. Meghan had her arms around Ela's waist, just as eager for her touch. They kissed and made out in the way they always had, until oxygen was desperately needed.

The two pairs of lips parted ways and as she caught her breath, Ela couldn't help but moan her lovers name, "Meghan."

"I heard you missed me." Meghan said, in a lustful manner.

"Every damn second you were gone." Ela said in response, her mind running wild in the moment.

"Heard you were…desperate for my touch." Meghan said as she began to run her hands up and down Ela's back.

"Very." Ela moaned, Meghan's hands running chills down her spine. Lust was radiating around the two of them, Ela was growing desperate for Meghan to take her right here.

"Hmm I guess I can oblige." Without warning, the blonde grabbed her and spun her around before shoving her against the wall, pinning her with her own body, "And where exactly do you want my touch?"

The move took Ela by surprise but she soon realized that she enjoyed the rough action. The SEALs strong muscles meant she would never be able to get out of her grip, but she oddly found herself not wanting to, "Mmmm." Her eyes closed and her breathing heavy.

"What was that?" Meghan whispered in her ear before giving it a quick nibble.

"Everywhere." Ela finally moaned.

"As you wish, my dear." Meghan reached under her girlfriends shirt and began to rub her fingers along her stomach. She went up and down a few times before moving upwards towards Ela's bra. She cupped her breasts and groped them on the outside of the undergarment.

This caused Ela to moan loudly, "Meghan!"

"You like that?" The SEAL asked, already knowing the answer.

"I need more." Ela said, her voice filled with nothing but desire.

"Desperate are we?" Meghan said, "Don't worry, I'll take good care of you." She reached down and grabbed the waistband of Ela's pants and underwear. She pulled them both down enough to expose her rear and her crotch. Ela gasped as she felt the cold air reach her hot womanhood.

Ela loved this feeling, she was experiencing cloud nine with every touch by Meghan's gentle hands. Speaking of which, said hands then moved behind her and grabbed both of her cheeks. Meghan squeezed and fondled her soft rear as she slowly planted soft kisses along Ela's neck. Ela bit her lower lip as she enjoyed the sensation.

"You have the nicest ass." Meghan complimented between kisses. She gave her right cheek a gentle spank before slowly grinding her still clothed hips against Ela's exposed rear.

Ela jumped from the light smack, "Mmm, and it's all yours."

"And I shall cherish it forever." Meghan said before giving Ela's neck a playful nip. She then moved her hands to Ela's front, rubbing them around her warm center, but not actually touching it. "What about here?"

Ela was only growing more excited, "Yours, and yours only."

"I like the sound of that." Meghan responded, still only touching around the sensitive area, caressing her inner thighs.

"Meghan, please."

"Please what?"

"I need it." Ela begged.

"Well, since you said please." Meghan teased.

She was about to make contact where Ela needed it the most, when suddenly the door opened and Ashe stepped in, "Sorry Ela, it's time for physical therapy, you have to leave."

 _ ***BUZZZZZ***_

"AHH!" Ela was shaken from her sleep so violently that she accidentally fell out of her bed onto the floor, "Oof!"

" _What the hell was that all about?"_ She thought to herself as she got up.

It was still early enough in the morning where it was still dark outside. Part of her regretted making plans this early, especially after drinking heavily the day prior, but she knew this was necessary. She began rubbing the side of her head, which was throbbing in pain, but she wasn't sure if it was from the fall or the hangover. Probably both.

She was more confused about the dream she just had, she had never had a dream like that before. Then again, she had never felt such intense feelings for someone like this before. In fact, Meghan was the only person that she had been intimate with, ever. And that part where Ashe walked in, only made her more confused, and slightly embarrassed.

Was that drool running down her face?

" _Oh God, I'm turning into Eliza."_ She thought as she wiped the mess off of her cheek.

 _ ***BUZZZZZ***_

Her phone vibrated again, indicating that it had received a message, she unlocked it to see what it said.

" _Are you up? We're here."_

Ela quickly typed out a response. _"I'll be down in a minute."_

She quickly got up and got dressed before heading downstairs.

* * *

The first rays of sun were just barely cresting above the horizon. Meghan was still fast asleep, resting peacefully before starting the day of more physical therapy and possible teasing from Eliza and/or murderous jealously from Ela.

Her sublime rest was sadly interrupted by a gentle tap on the shoulder, "Meghan?" Came Ashe's voice.

Meghan was now awake but refused to open her eyes, "Ashe, it's a little early for to start therapy don't you think?"

"Actually, you have some visitors."

"Who could possibly be wanting to see me at this hour?"

"Meghan?" Came a familiar British voice.

The SEAL's eyes shot open at the sound of her name. She immediately sat up and looked over to see none other than her adoptive younger sister, accompanied by Amelie and Ela, "Lena?"

Without saying anything more, the seventeen year old instantly closed the gap between them and wrapped her arms around the blonde as tightly as she could. Meghan returned the embrace as hard as she could without crushing the girl. She heard Lena begin to softly cry as she buried her face in her shoulder.

"Hey, hey, it's okay." Meghan soothed, "I'm okay."

The teenager responded by holding on to her tighter, "You said you'd be careful." Lena wept, "You promised."

"I know, I know…" Meghan gently rocked the girl back and forth, "I'm sorry."

Ela and Amelie stayed quiet and decided to let their girlfriends have their moment. Afterall, it was the first time they had seen each other since Rainbow had left for China. Ashe seemed to realize how personal this visit was and left the room out of respect.

Setting this visit up wasn't easy, and since Lena wasn't technically Meghan's family, she was never notified of Meghan's incident. The night before, Ela had to bear the burden of going to the coffee shop alone, and breaking the news to Lena and Amelie. The British girl had broke down, Ela was thankful that Amelie was there to comfort her the way only she could. She didn't want to think about how bad things would have gotten for Meghan's younger sister had the French woman not been there.

"What the hell happened?" Lena finally backed off a bit to look at the SEAL, not sure if she really wanted the answer.

"I got a little banged up." Meghan said, sparing the young girl the more graphic details, "My leg took most of the damage, but it's better now." She moved her blanket to show Lena the decent sized scar she had received.

She thought Lena would feel relief at seeing how much her wound had healed, but instead it only grew Lena's concern, "That scar is gigantic, and deep. That's not something you get from being 'a little banged up', how bad was it?"

"It wasn't that bad." Meghan tried to lie.

"How bad was it?!" Lena shouted, tears still fresh in her eyes. Amelie placed her hands on her girlfriends shoulders in an attempt to calm her down, "Don't give me any bullshit."

Meghan was extremely hesitant to tell her sibling about the horrors of war, let alone the horror that happened to her, but Lena was growing up. The two of them were family, this was going to be something that they both had to deal with as long as she was serving in the military. Meghan was surprised that a conversation like this hadn't happened sooner, "Are you sure you want to know?"

"Damnit Meghan, we're family and you're in a bloody hospital." Lena let go of her and settled for grabbing both of her hands. "I need to know what happened."

Meghan took a deep breath, knowing Lena wasn't ready to hear what she was about to tell her, "I was caught in an explosion. I got hit with the fire and shrapnel, most of it wasn't too bad, except for this." She pointed at her leg scar, "It tore my femoral artery and I lost a lot of blood."

"What caused the explosion?" Lena asked.

"A suicide bomber. A man so crazy, he was willing to strap explosives to himself and push the detonator to kill those around him."

Lena made a face mixed of both shock and disgust, "Why?"

"I don't know." Meghan answered, "None of us do, I guess its something that you could only understand by going inside of one of their heads."

Lena was still in shock over the concept, "So that was it? You got hurt and then they took you to the hospital."

"Yes." Meghan answered before looking away.

"You're lying." Lena noticed, "There's more to it isn't there?"

"It doesn't matter Lena." Meghan snapped, "I'm fine now, what difference does it make?"

"It matters to me, Meghan!" Lena argued back, "You got blown up by a psychopath, and you think a simple 'I'm fine' is going to put me at ease? Hiding me from the truth is only going to make me worry about you more."

Meghan realized that instead of comforting the girl and showing her that she was alright, she was only raising her anxiety, she needed to come clean, "I flatlined. For only a few seconds."

Lena took a moment to process the revelation, "You mean?"

"I died, yes." Meghan looked away from the Brit and to her girlfriend, "Ela brought me back."

Lena turned to look at the Polish operator as well, "You did?"

"She performed CPR on me and didn't stop until I was breathing again. Even after it seemed pointless, she didn't give up on me."

Ela didn't know what to say, but before she had the chance, the British girl got up and wrapped her arms around her, "Thank you." She whispered.

Ela still didn't say anything back, but instead returned the embrace. Since returning from the mission, she was slowly beginning to become more comfortable with physical contact; and not just from Meghan. To be fair, Lena was not a person you denied when offered a hug.

While the two were having a moment, Amelie finally decided to speak to Meghan, albeit a bit awkwardly, "I'm…glad you're alright."

"Come here, Amelie." Meghan said, before grabbing the French girl and pulling her in for a hug, "I know you missed me too."

Amelie went stiff for a few seconds before relaxing; she and Meghan had never so much as shared a handshake before, "Maybe a little."

"Thank you for looking after her while I was gone." Meghan whispered.

Amelie finally returned the embrace, "Of course." Meghan couldn't help but notice that she was shaking a bit and her voice cracked.

After a while she finally let go of Amelie to ask a question she had since she woke up, "I know this is way off topic, but how did you two even get in here? Civilians aren't allowed on base normally."

"I called in a favor from Isaac." Ela answered, "I got them visitors passes. They're free to visit certain areas of the base as long as one of us watches over them."

Meghan looked at her girlfriend with appreciation. She knew getting civilians access to the base was asking for a lot and was rarely authorized. But allowing her to see Lena was hands down the best thing any of her relationships had done for her, "I knew I was dating the best girlfriend ever."

Ela could only blush.

"I knew you picked a good one." Lena commented, finally smiling, which brought relief to the other three women in the room.

"Hey, I just remembered." Meghan said before pulling something out of her bag on the nightstand, "Check it out."

"What's that?" Lena asked.

Upon closer inspection, the British girl noticed it was the picture the two of them had taken together before they left for China., "Just had it developed."

"That's a good one." Lena commented, "We look nice."

"Here." Meghan said as she handed it to her, "You can frame it and put it up somewhere."

"It's going up in the shop." Lena said with joy.

"You sure?"

"Absolutely."

The two admired the photo for another moment before Amelie spoke up, "If you don't mind me asking, how long are you going to be in recovery?"

"A few weeks, a month at most." Meghan answered.

"And we'll be here with you the entire time until you recover." Lena declared.

"You sure you won't get bored?" Meghan asked, "There's not much to do in here since I can't walk around yet."

"Of course not." Lena reassured, "Besides, it'll be worse for you if we just left you all alone."

Meghan smiled at the girls enthusiasm, "You guys are the best."

* * *

"So how is the investigation coming along?" Six asked.

"I still have the ground teams tearing apart the sight. All of the narcotics have been collected and safely disposed of." Isaac reported. The two were currently in Six's office discussing current matters for the team.

"And the bombs?"

"Currently being held and examined in our labs."

"What have you found so far?"

"Well, if there was any doubts about our HVT being among them, they've been quelled." He took out an enlarged photo of a fingerprint, Peterson's fingerprint, "We found this on one of them, it matches the ones in our database."

"So now we have physical evidence as well." Six acknowledged, "Any word on how he escaped?"

"Not yet," He answered, "The ground team is still scouring the area for any escape routs he may have taken, so far they haven't found a thing."

"So as far as we can tell, he just disappeared like a ghost?"

"Well, we taught him the skills to do so."

Six let out an exasperated sigh, having one of her former agents working for the enemy raised the stakes and catching him was priority number one, "What about the one we have in custody? Surely he knows something."

"We're still trying to get the prisoner to talk."

"Has he said anything at all?"

"Not yet, but I have Pereira with him now, it'll only be a matter of time."

"How long has Caveira been interrogating him?"

"Since last night." He said, rubbing the side of his head, "I'm honestly surprised he's lasted this long."

"You alright?" Six asked.

"A bit of a hangover, I'll be fine."

"It's not good practice to be drinking before a work day." Six chastised.

"I know, but with Norman and Irvin being released from the hospital, we figured it was a good time for celebration."

"Suit yourself, as long as all of you are able to complete your duties." Six answered, "Speaking of hospitals, how is Valkyrie coming along?"

Isaac always found it very strange how Six would never call an operator by anything but their codename. Maybe it was so she didn't get too attached, maybe she genuinely thought of them as nothing but tools for the mission, "Castellano is recovering at surprising rate."

"Do you have the report from Doc?"

"Right here." He pulled out the folder and gave it to her, he explained Meghan's recovery as she read along, "As you can see, she is already recovered from the severed artery and has begun the physical therapy program that Dr. Kateb made for her."

"Impressive." Six commented, "So, the new nano technology worked as expected?"

"Almost," He explained, "according to the report, during the time that the nano bots were activated, the patient would experience seizure-like symptoms and lose nearly all muscle control."

"So there's still some adjustments to be made?" Six asked.

"Some, yes. But the main job of healing physical wounds was a success. Minor wounds were healed almost instantaneously, while the major wound was healed at a much faster rate than using normal practices."

"Any negative side effects?"

"None so far." As enthusiastic as he sounded, Isaac was extremely uncomfortable with using one of their own as a guinea pig, the only reason that he was even remotely on board with the plan was because there was no other way to save Meghan. He was thankful that there was no extra damage caused by the nano bots and the SEAL made a full recovery, especially for Ela's sake.

"How soon can we get those improvements implemented?" Six asked, interrupting his thoughts.

"I've already informed them of the report and they're working on it as we speak." He answered.

"Good, good."

"It's amazing." He said as he also began reading the report, "Normally, a wound like that would take months to recover from, if you even survived. And if you did, it would still likely leave permanent damage for life."

"Normally, yes." Six agreed.

"But thanks to our new friends Olivier and Lera, a process that was expected to take several months is now only going to take several weeks."

"Impressive." Was her only response as she continued to scan the report.

Isaac's phone began to buzz, he took it out of his pocket and saw it was an incoming call from Taina, "I have to take this." He said as he answered the phone, "Has he said anything?" He asked immediately, skipping all formalities.

"Just giving you the heads up," Taina said from the other line, "the prisoner had a small accident."

Isaac pinched the bridge of his nose, with Taina there was no such thing as a small accident, "What happened?"

"He fell out of his chair."

"Oh, well that's not so-"

"And his neck landed on my knife."

Isaac face palmed, "Oh for God's sake, what's the matter with you?"

"Relax captain. Before he bled out, I got everything we needed to solve your little mystery."

"Really?!"

"Yes." She let out a quiet yet evil giggle. "Get down here and I'll show you what I found."

"Okay, I'll be right there. Just make sure everything's…cleaned up by the time I get there."

"Don't worry, Dom and I are working on that right now."

Isaac could hear Dominic's voice in the background, "How in the world did you get blood on the ceiling?!" Then the line went dead.

Isaac let out a sigh of annoyance, "I'll be back. There's something I need to take care of."

"See you later then." Six said.

"Oh, one more thing." He said before he left, "Speaking of Lera and Olivier, are they ready to be brought on board?"

"I'm still working with CBRN officials to get them assigned to us." She elaborated, "Since they're technically from two different CTU's, the process is taking longer than normal. In other words, it's still going to be several months before we're ready to add them to the team."

"I see." Isaac nodded, he thought for a moment, hesitant to ask his next question, "What about the…other three?"

* * *

It was late into the evening and Ela, Lena and Amelie were still at the hospital with Meghan. Earlier, Ashe had tried to begin another physical therapy session, but Ela's death stare was enough to even make Amelie uneasy.

Unfortunately, both Ela and Lena had fallen asleep. Ela was sitting with her head resting on the edge of Meghan's bed, holding her hand. Lena had moved some chairs together and laid on them like a bench, her head on Amelie's lap. For a while, both women simply watch their significant others sleep, not saying much to each other, which was normal since the only thing they really had in common was being close with Lena.

"Thank you for looking after her while I was away." Meghan said, breaking the ice.

"Of course." Amelie responded, it looked like something was bothering her.

"How were things anyway?"

"Not much different, she managed the shop all on her own amazingly, as always. Although, she was noticeably less cheerful with you gone."

"She's had to grow up too fast." Meghan commented, "How did she take the news that I was hurt?"

Amelie sighed, "She was very distraught. Your girlfriend kept saying that you were alright, but it didn't do much to calm her."

It broke Meghan's heart to think of Lena having a break down over her injury, "Was it that bad?"

"She wouldn't stop crying." Amelie nodded, "I held her through the night until she fell asleep."

Meghan was glad that Amelie was there for Lena when she couldn't be. In fact, she was grateful for the French woman to be in Lena's life at all, "Amelie," She gabbed her hand, grabbing her attention, "I haven't thanked you enough for what you've done for Lena."

"You don't have to thank me." She tried to counter.

"No, I do." Meghan continued, "I know we've butted heads before, but there's no arguing that you have been the best girlfriend that anybody could be for her. I'm glad she has you in her life."

Amelie let a single tear roll down her cheek, appreciative of the compliment, "Thank you."

"What's wrong?" Meghan asked.

"Lena wasn't the only one scared about losing you." Amelie explained, "I was worried too."

Meghan gave her hand a gentle squeeze, "You were worried about me?"

"Of course." She answered, "Like you said, we haven't always seen eye to eye, but you don't have to in order to be family. Even when you did not approve of me being with Lena, you still let us be together and supported us, for the sake of Lena being happy. You also gave me the chance to prove to you that I could take care of her and that I wasn't some cold-hearted widow maker. Neither of us may have asked for it, but we're family and the thought of never seeing you again broke my heart as well."

"I didn't know I meant that much to you." Meghan felt her own tears begin to form, she pulled Amelie in for a hug, which she returned as best she could without disturbing the sleeping girl on her lap, "I consider you family as well."

The two sat in silence for a while, appreciating their newly found acceptance for one another. After a few minutes, Amelie broke the quiet with a question, "Meghan, can I ask you something? Something important."

"What is it?" The blonde asked.

Amelie began to run her hands through the British girls hair, "Lena turns eighteen in a few months."

"Right."

"Since you are her true guardian, may I have your blessing to…marry her?"

The question took Meghan by surprise, Amelie must have truly respected her if she was asking for permission to marry her little sister. Part of her wanted to say no, that eighteen was too young for someone to get married. But the other part of her thought that there was really no better choice for Lena, Amelie could without a doubt support her financially, and she already proved herself more than capable of supporting her emotionally. The truth was, young or not, Meghan would be thrilled for Lena to marry someone like Amelie. Besides, whether they got Meghan's approval or not, there was no way Lena wouldn't agree to marry the French woman, "Yes. You have my blessing."

"Merci." Amelie thanked, "It will make a wonderful birthday surprise."

The only thing that bothered Meghan was Lena's parents. This was really something that should have gone through them. Obviously, that wasn't possible, but Meghan couldn't help but feel guilty that she was the on to make the decision and that Lena's parents wouldn't be able to see their daughter walk down the aisle, "I'm happy for you two."

"Do you think she will say yes?" Amelie asked nervously.

"What kind of question is that? Of course she will." Meghan realized that she now had two weddings to plan for, Eliza and Monika's, and now Lena and Amelie's. She couldn't help but look at the still sleeping Ela and think. Obviously, they had just begun dating and it was way too early to even be thinking about marriage. Still, Meghan couldn't help but fantasize about the two of them still dating a couple years down the road, then maybe buying a ring and proposing to her. It was a thought that filled Meghan's heart with absolute joy. _"Maybe someday."_ , She thought.

One thing was for sure, despite being in the hospital, things were going well in Meghan's life. She absolutely couldn't wait to sleep in her own bed next to Ela, spend her days at the coffee shop with Lena, and get back into training with Eliza and the rest of the gang. The past few months may have been a long and bumpy road, but life was good right now, and nothing could change that.

* * *

Monika was sitting in Eliza's room, writing down some notes while waiting for her girlfriend to finish her bath. She was trying to figure out a way to improve her detector to see electronics from further distances. The task was proving rather difficult, before she knew it, she had written so many notes that her pen went dry, "Scheisse." She whispered.

She looked around the room for a replacement, eyeing Eliza's desk, surly her girlfriend kept writing utensils in there. She walked up and began searching the drawers, to no avail. She tried to check one of the last drawers, only to find it locked. _"That's strange."_ She thought as she noticed it was the only one locked.

"What are you up to babe?" Eliza suddenly asked from behind her.

Monika was slightly startled, not having realized that the red head had finished, "Oh, I was just looking for something to write with."

"Bottom drawer." Eliza pointed to one of the drawers she hadn't checked.

"Thanks." Monika said as she grabbed a fresh pen.

"No problem."

"Why do you keep this drawer locked?" Monika asked curiously.

"What drawer?" Asked Eliza.

"This one." Monika pointed out, "What do you have in there?"

Eliza's heart dropped as she realized Monika was referring to the drawer that she was keeping her engagement ring in. She wasn't ready to propose just yet and didn't want to ruin the surprise. She had to make something up quick, "Oh that? I just keep important paperwork in there. You know, secret documents and stuff."

"…okay." Monika noticed something was off in Eliza's demeanor, but before she could press the topic more, her phone buzzed.

The screen lit up, showing it had received a message from Six. Monika let out an annoyed sigh, wondering what on earth the woman could want with her at this hour. She unlocked the phone to read the message, _"New operators inbound, be in my office tomorrow at 1100 for the brief."_

* * *

Author's note: Well that proves it. Since starting this story, I've received a lot of comments and questions from you guys about Operation White Noise. I can now confirm that yes, Zofia will in fact be making an appearance in this story as well as Vigil and Dokkaebi. However, we still have a chapter or two before that happens so you'll all have to wait just a little bit longer. We have also hit a new milestone with this chapter as What Will It Take has officially reached 100k words! Thank you all for reading this story and helping it become the most followed and faved story in this amazing fandom in just a little over one year! Here's to another year full of compelling stories to be told. Again, thank you for reading and thank you RStyle for being my beta reader, you have no idea how much it means to me. As always, hope you enjoyed and feel free to leave a review. Until next time.


	24. Chapter 23

Author's note: I'm sorry this one took so long. I hope it was worth the wait. Enjoy.

* * *

What Will It Take?

Chapter 23

* * *

Ela was walking through the halls of Hereford hospital on her way to see her favorite person. Lena and Amelie said they would be visiting later, which gave Ela an opportunity to be alone with Meghan. The three of them had been keeping Meghan company nonstop for the past few days and she was getting a little worn out. She enjoyed the young couples company no doubt, but the energy contained in such a small British girl was overwhelming, it was a wonder how Meghan and Amelie handled it so well. She also wanted some cherished alone time with her girlfriend and to make sure that a certain nurse wasn't getting too 'close' with said girlfriend.

She entered the hospital room and saw her beloved in her bed as expected. She also immediately noticed another woman with pale white hair talking with her. However, this wasn't the same white haired nurse that Ela had been weary of for the past few days. This woman was older and looked different, in fact she looked oddly like…Meghan?

It didn't take much more for Ela to realize that this was Meghan's mother, she had somehow managed to fly all the way out here to see her daughter. Which made sense, she knew Meghan was close with her mother, especially after her father died, and wasn't surprised that the woman had made the journey to see for herself that her daughter was alright. The two were so wrapped up in their conversation that they had yet to notice her, "Ahem." She said, finally gaining their attention.

"Ela!" Meghan greeted.

"Hey." She greeted back, "I came to see how you're doing."

"As always. Come here, there's someone I want you to meet." She gestured to the newcomer, "Ela, this is my mother, Maria."

Ela looked at the older Castellano and took in her features, she looked like she was in her mid-fifties. Ela also noticed that she looked almost exactly like an older version of Meghan. The only major differences was that Maria had white hair, a few wrinkles on her face, brown eyes and was noticeably skinnier than her daughter.

Maria greeted Ela with a smile, "Nice to meet you Ela."

"Nice to meet you as well Mrs. Castellano." Ela was nervous, but trying not to show it. Meeting the parent of her girlfriend was not on the list of things she expected to do today. She knew she had to make a good first impression. _"Does she even know we're dating?"_ She thought to herself.

"Please, call me Maria." The mother said, "You are a friend of Meghan's I assume?"

"I guess you could say that." Ela answered.

"Ela is more than that, mom. She's actually someone very special." Meghan added.

"Really, How so?"

" _Here we go."_ Ela thought to herself.

"Ela is also on the team. Just like everyone else, she's pretty bad ass. And she's the one I told you about, the one that saved me." Meghan answered, "She's the reason I'm still here."

"You mean..?"

"Yes. She patched me up and kept me breathing immediately after I got hit. Even Doc himself said that I'm still alive because of what she did."

Not quite where Ela thought the conversation was going, but Maria had the warmest smile on her face regardless, Ela also noticed tears beginning to form in the eyes of the older Castellano. Maybe Meghan was playing her up before the big reveal.

Maria moved closer to Ela and wrapped her arms around her, "Thank you so much." She knew that words alone could never express how thankful she was for what Ela did for Meghan, "Thank you for keeping my daughter here with me."

Ela could feel the thankful tears being shed by Maria fall on her shoulder as she returned the embrace, "You don't have to thank me." She reassured, "I doubt she told you that she saved me as well."

Maria shook her head. "Did she now?"

"She pushed me out of the way to safety, leaving herself in the blast. Otherwise we would both be in this hospital, or worse."

"That sounds like something she would do." Maria commented as she looked at her daughter.

"Ela would have done the same for me." Meghan said.

"You two seem close. How long have you two been on a team together?"

"Well actually, the first time we met was ten years ago, during my first tour in Iraq."

"That long ago?"

"Yeah, she and I took the lead on one of the bigger operations of that deployment." Meghan explained, thankfully leaving out the part where the two of them hated each other at the time, "Then we fought together in Afghanistan two years later. And now, here we are, in England. When I was told that we were getting a new team member from Poland, I never thought that in a million years that it would be her, but it's like destiny had other plans."

"Indeed." Maria responded, "Different plans that I am thankful for."

Ela was now getting confused, that would have been a perfect moment to tell her mother about them.

"Well, I'm happy you have such a great friend to look after you."

"Yeah…she's a…good friend."

" _Friend?"_

Then it finally dawned on Ela. Meghan wasn't going to tell her mother about them. She recalled when the blonde told her only a few people knew about her sexuality. She guessed her mother wasn't one of them, and it appeared that she was going to keep it that way. Was Meghan afraid of what her mother would say? Or was she ashamed of her?

"Well Ela," Maria said, breaking her train of thought, "I'm so happy that Meghan has a friend like you to look after her like that." She gave the Polish girl another thankful hug.

"Of course." Ela said. After a moment, the two let go of each other. Ela was happy that Maria seemed to think well of her, but Meghan's apprehensiveness still hurt, "Um, I have to go, I'll give you two some more time to catch up."

"Wait, is everything alright?" Meghan asked. "Ela?"

Ela didn't respond as she left the room in a hurry, not wanting them to see the tears that had begun to roll down her face.

* * *

"Hold the camera steady!"

"Go easy on me man, I'm still jet lagged."

McConnell was now back at the theme park taking lead on the investigation. He wasn't expecting to be back in China anytime soon, but as soon as Isaac got the information Taina had extracted from the prisoner, he had him flown back as soon as he could. Meanwhile, Isaac, Taina and Kowalski were watching a live feed from McConnell's body camera. Isaac wanted to go himself, but Six said she needed him back at the home front.

"That's the one right?" Isaac asked.

"In the middle of the room." Taina observed through the feed, "That's the one."

Currently, McConnell was in the gargoyle room, examining one of the statues. He had a couple of new recruits helping him. The statue was of a gargoyle, similar to the many others in the park, perched upon what seemed to be a miniature building.

"Do you see anything off?" Isaac asked.

"Other than the fact that its an ugly piece of shit, not really." McConnell answered.

"How did this thing possibly help him escape?" Isaac asked, turning to Taina.

"It's what he told me." She answered.

"How do you know he wasn't lying to you?"

"Oh trust me captain, he wasn't." She smiled, "They always get so talkative before they bleed out."

Isaac turned back to the feed from McConnell, "Keep looking."

"I am, but I'm telling you dude, nothings here." He said as he looked at the statue, even giving it a light kick for good measure.

"There's got to be something." Kowalski said. The three of them looked intensely at the screen.

"Wait!" Taina said, "Look up."

McConnell moved the camera to get a better view of the statue.

"See that symbol?"

Everyone looked closely at the statue. They all saw what looked like a symbol of a flower on top of the building. Such a symbol didn't quite match the theme to the rest of the room.

"That looks a bit off." Isaac said, "McConnell, take a closer look."

McConnell moved closer to the symbol, running his fingers along the lines. Immediately, he felt something move, "Hold on, I got something."

"Be careful." Isaac warned.

McConnell moved toward the middle of the flower where there was a small circle. It quickly became apparent that it wasn't just a symbol, it was a button. He knew it could be a trap, one left behind by the White Masks as another attempt to kill as many as they could, "Back off." He said to the new recruits, not willing to risk their lives for this potential breakthrough. Once he judged that they were at a safe distance, he took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and pushed the button. There was a loud thud, but no explosion.

"Everything okay." Isaac asked, who had also been holding his breath.

"I think so." McConnell answered. He began examining the statue once again, trying to find the source of the thud. He couldn't really see any changes, until he leaned against it. The whole thing shifted slightly, startling him, "Help me with this!" He called the recruits back.

"What did you find?!" Isaac asked.

""I'll let you know as soon as I figure it out." He answered. The three of them were now positioned on one side of the statue, "Okay, everyone push together on three. One, two, three." The three of them pushed with all there might. Soon they were rewarded for their efforts, the entire statue had shifted from its original spot. In its place, was a very large hole that went deep underground. "Isaac, are you seeing this?"

Back at Hereford, Isaac, Kowalski and Taina were watching the new discovery on the screen, unsure what to make of it.

"Kowalski, analysis."

* * *

"Okay, give it one more try."

"Alright, here goes nothing." Meghan slowly lifted her injured leg and began moving it. Left to right, up and down, even bending her knee, all without Ashe's assistance. The movement may seem easy to most, but weeks of little to no functionality meant this exercise was still shaky and caused Meghan to work up a sweat, she still finished it regardless, "How was that?"

"Excellent!" Ashe jumped for joy, "Your progress has been amazing! I've never seen anyone recover from injuries like yours in such a short amount of time."

Only then did Meghan realize that Ashe was most likely never informed about the nano bot treatment that was done to her as it was still classified, "I'm sure I have you and your colleagues to thank in part for that."

Ashe had just finished writing down her observation on her clipboard, "I'm going to let Dr. Kateb know what just happened, he's going to be thrilled."

She quickly exited the room, passing Eliza as she was entering. The redhead didn't even acknowledge the nurse as she left. She walked up to Meghan and did not have a happy look on her face, "A friend?!"

"What?" Meghan asked, confused.

"Did you seriously call Ela 'a good friend' in front of your mom?!"

Meghan hesitated, recalling the conversation, "I might have."

"What the hell is wrong with you?"

"What do you mean?"

"I just found Ela crying in her room!" Eliza shouted, "Why didn't you tell her that you two are dating?"

Meghan was shocked about Ela, she thought her girlfriends sudden departure the day before was odd, but didn't think she had upset the Polish girl. She instantly felt horrible, "She was crying?"

"Of course she was!" Eliza was only getting more agitated, "You had the perfect opportunity to introduce your amazing girlfriend to your family, and instead you played her off as just another random person that you know. How else is that supposed to make her feel?"

"You don't understand, Eliza." Meghan argued, "It's not that simple."

"What do you mean, just say 'hey mom, I'm dating this chick who also happened to save my life'. Why is that so hard?"

"My mom doesn't know that I'm bisexual."

"Oh come on. You're a grown up, just tell her."

"It's not that easy!" Meghan countered, "I have no idea how she will feel about it."

"You're her daughter, you're a God damned Navy SEAL and you're in the hospital. Do you think she will honestly care about who you're sleeping with?" Eliza pointed out, "Not to mention, Ela's the reason you're still alive."

"But I've been hiding this from her since I was fifteen, lying to her for over half of my life. I don't about your family, but-"

"My family hasn't spoken to me since I came out!" Eliza interrupted.

The revelation instantly silenced Meghan's arguing. She could only look at her friend in confusion and disbelief.

"Yeah, they hate the fact that I'm gay, despite what else I've accomplished, they're still ashamed of me." Eliza continued, "I've tried several times to make them come to terms with it. I've even tried to introduce them to Monika and show them how amazing she is and that it's not a bad thing, but they won't have it. And you know what, that's fine with me." Eliza was confident in her words, but tears were still beginning to well in her eyes and her voice was cracking, "If they can't love me for who I am then I don't care if they're a part of my life or not. Because I know that Monika loves me, so does her family, and so do all of you in Rainbow, and I love all of you back. That's what matters to me."

Meghan didn't know what to say, she simply grabbed Eliza by the hand and gave it a squeeze, silently reassuring the redhead that the love of her best friend was reciprocated. For a minute, the two didn't speak.

"Does Ela matter to you?" Eliza finally asked.

"Of course she does." The blonde answered.

"Well, you're doing a shitty job of showing it."

"I know…but I'm just so conflicted."

"I get it, you're afraid of what might happen." Eliza said, "The fact is, you have to tell her, otherwise you're lying to both of them. Who knows, she might be fine with it and you're worrying over nothing. If she doesn't approve, she's either going to have to learn to deal with it, or you're going to have to chose which one is worth keeping in your life."

Meghan wasn't totally happy with that answer, but took her friends words to heart, "I have to make it up to Ela first."

"I told her I would yell at you for her, then I would send her your way."

"Does she hate me…again?"

"Well, she's not happy with you, but you still mean the world to her. She's loyal as hell, which is why I think she's good for you." Eliza answered, "I'll tell her to come see you when I go back."

"I would appreciate that."

"And no excuses, you better apologize to her. You're the only person who means anything to her right now and you just fucked it up." Eliza got up to leave.

"Thanks, Eliza." As always, Meghan was appreciative of having Eliza as a friend. The redhead would always support her and have her back, but she was also never afraid to give her a verbal kick in the ass, which is exactly what she needed just now. And the revelation about her family only brought the two closer than they already were.

The redhead simply gave her a smile before leaving the room.

* * *

"So what is it." Isaac asked.

"It appears to be a tunnel." Kowalski answered.

"I can see that, smartass! What have we found out about it?"

"Well, why don't we ask the guys who are in there?"

"McConnell, report." Isaac asked into the microphone.

"Say again." The response was quiet and full of static.

"What have you found?"

"What?" Again, the response was hard to understand.

"Why can't he hear me?" Isaac asked in frustration.

"They're underground dude, it's a miracle that they can hear us at all." Kowalski answered, he then started adjusting the knobs on the radio. "I just boosted the signal, try again."

"McConnell, can you hear me?"

"There we go, yeah I hear you."

"Do you have anything?"

"Given how filthy this place is, yeah I probably have several diseases by now." He answered back. He along with his two assistants were inside the escape tunnel they had discovered. Upon finding the underground passage, the three of them had decided to investigate to see exactly how far it went and where. They had been treading through the place for almost an hour.

"I meant about the tunnel." Isaac pinched the bridge of his nose, "I don't know how I put up with all of you."

"Well, it feels like we've been walking forever."

"About five miles sir." One of the assistants clarified.

"Right. So, what I have so far, it's well lit, well supported to prevent cave-ins, even well ventilated. Large enough for several people to walk through at the same time and is located about twenty feet below the surface. So this was definitely meant to be an escape tunnel, or at the very least a quick and inconspicuous way of getting from one point to another."

"Sounds a lot like that bank robbery last year." Kowalski said, "The tunnel they dug to break in was well built and went undetected until the attack, this ones just a lot longer."

"Right. Something interesting to note is that this tunnel is well constructed and maintained, meanwhile the actual base they were living in and operated out of was kept as, for lack of a better term, a piece of crap."

Isaac processed the information and came to one conclusion, "They knew we would come for them. They knew this tunnel would be a necessity, not a fail-safe."

Before McConnell could respond, the trio rounded a corner and were met with a ladder, "Hold up, we've got something else."

"What is it?"

The three men looked up the ladder to see what was up there, it went up about twenty feet and lead to what looked like a trap door of some sort. Since the tunnel didn't dip or rise at any point during their trip, all of them knew this meant it would lead directly to the surface.

"Wallcroft, Griffen, cover me." McConnell ordered the two new recruits.

All of them pulled out their MP5-Ks, they may have won the battle and the enemy may have fled, but they weren't foolish enough to enter this tunnel unarmed. Whoever used this tunnel to escape could very well still be there, possibly even waiting for them with an ambush, it could have led to another secret enemy base for all they knew. McConnell began climbing up the ladder while his two colleagues covered him. Once he reached the top, he carefully turned the doors handle. Then with one hand on the knob and the other clutching his weapon, he quickly flung the door open and rushed up, ready to combat whatever awaited him.

Nothing. No enemy, no ambush, no secret base. It was just a regular alleyway between two buildings. It was slightly disappointing although it was nice to finally breath some fresh air again. After a few seconds, the other two men joined him on the surface. At the end of the alley, they could see people and cars going about their day, they quickly holstered their weapons to avoid any unwanted attention.

"What did you find?" Isaac's voice came over the radio.

"The end." He simply answered, slightly confused. "Griffen, where the hell are we?"

Griffen pulled out his GPS. "Victoria Harbor sir."

"We made it all the way to the harbor." McConnell said to himself, "And its been weeks since the raid, which means-"

"Which means that they could be anywhere in the fucking world by now." Isaac interrupted. He sat down and sighed in defeat, "Back to square one."

* * *

Ela was once again making her way through the hospital, albeit with even less enthusiasm. After her initial meeting with Maria she had immediately gone back to her room and cried. Why didn't Meghan want to tell her mother about them? Was she embarrassed? Was she ashamed? Did She not want to be with her anymore? Maybe she felt like it was none of her mother's business. Regardless, Ela had been hurt by the notion that Meghan didn't feel like she was worthy of telling her only living parent.

She didn't remember how long she was laying on her bed, but eventually, as if the stars had aligned, Eliza found her. It took some prodding, but Ela finally confided to the redhead about what Meghan had said. Eliza immediately flared up in anger. She told Ela to stay put while she went to 'talk some sense into the dumb blonde'. About an hour later, she gave her the green light to go and see her again, she had explained to Ela how Meghan felt about the whole ordeal and although Ela seemed to understand, Eliza said it was no excuse. As annoying and chaotic as the redhead could be, she was proving herself to be a good friend and Ela could see why Meghan and Monika kept her around.

She finally made her way to Meghan's room, the SEAL was sitting alone looking at an old photograph.

"Meghan?" Ela called as she walked closer to her.

"Do you remember this?" Meghan asked as she showed the photo to Ela. It was a photo of the group that had participated in Orange Sky, with the two of them right in front, Ela choosing not to smile as always. She remembered the picture was taken in celebration of the operations success.

"Our first job together."

"Remember back then, how we would always be at each other's throats.?"

Ela recalled the multiple times they had butted heads during that mission. Neither of them could make a call without being challenged by the other, "Yeah, I remember."

"But in the end, we still made a hell of a team."

"I guess we did." Ela agreed.

"And still do." She felt Meghan grab her by the hand, "Ela, I'm so sorry." The blonde looked like she was about to cry.

"You don't-"

"Yes I do." She pulled the Polish girl in and hugged her as tight as she could, "I should never have said you were just a friend, especially to my own mother. You're so much more than that."

Ela hugged her back just as tightly, she could feel tears welling in her eyes again, "I just want to know if I'm good enough for you."

"You are." Meghan pulled back to look her in the eye, "You are, and I'm sorry for making you doubt that even for a second. You saved my life for God's sake, and I can't even give you the goddammed curtesy of calling you my girlfriend in front of my mom. I'm so pathetic."

Ela wiped away both of they're tears, "We both knew going into this that being together was not going to be easy."

Meghan nodded in agreement.

"But I'm still willing to try if you are."

"Of course I am." Meghan said, "And I'm going to make this right."

"What do you mean?"

"My mom is visiting again today, and I'm going to tell her everything."

Ela was surprised, "Meghan, you don't have to do this. Eliza told me what you said, I understand this isn't easy for you."

"This might not be easy for me, but nothing in our relationship has been easy for you, I can at least give you this."

"Are you sure?"

Instead of answering the question, Meghan closed the gap between them and gave her the most passionate kiss she had ever given anyone, "Enough worrying about me."

* * *

An hour later, Ela was still with her, the two of them waiting for Maria to return. They had decided to keep a little distance between them to avoid any suspicion. Meghan concluded that the confession would be a lot smoother and less awkward if her mother didn't walk in on them hugging, or worse.

"What do you think she'll say?" Ela asked, trying to pass the time.

"I honestly have no idea." Meghan answered. She was always adept at reading people and situations, but her mothers stance on LGBT matters never came up during her childhood. She was nervous, and it showed.

"I don't think you have anything to be worried about." Ela reassured.

"I guess we'll see."

As if on cue, Maria walked into the room, "Hey, everything alright? You sounded anxious when you called me."

Meghan's voice had completely disappeared. She kept opening her mouth to speak, but no words would form. After a few seconds, Ela decided to speak for her, "Um, Meghan wanted to tell you something before you left yesterday."

"What is it Meghan?"

"Um, well." Meghan's brain was finally capable of forming words, just not the ones she wanted, "Mom, I was going to tell you this earlier, but…" She trailed off.

"But what?"

"I just…I don't…I don't know how to say it."

Maria grabbed her by the hand, "Sweetie, you can tell me anything."

"I…" Meghan couldn't take it anymore, so she just decided to come out and say it before her brain could stop her again, "Mom, I'm bisexual!"

Maria just stared at her, with a neutral expression on her face.

"I've known that I like girls for a long time, I was just too afraid to tell you." Meghan looked at Ela, "And Ela isn't just a friend, she's my girlfriend. We've been dating for a little over a month now. I should have told you about her immediately, but I was afraid that you wouldn't approve." She felt like she was about to cry again, "I'm sorry I didn't tell you."

Meghan looked back at her mother, instead of anger or disappointment, she gave her a warm smile before wrapping her arms around her, "Thank you for sharing this with me."

Meghan gladly returned the hug, "You're not mad?"

"Of course not, how could I be?" Maria soothed, "After all that you've accomplished and all that you've been through, I could never be more proud to have you as a daughter."

Meghan now felt like she was about to cry tears of joy, "I love you mom."

"I love you too sweetie." Maria let go of the SEAL and turned her attention to Ela, "And you dear. How could I disapprove of the person who saved my baby's life." She then wrapped her arms around the Polish girl, "Thank you again for taking care of my daughter. I only ask that, as her girlfriend, you please continue looking after her, you know how she can be."

"Of course I will." Ela was also relieved that Maria approved of them being together. Both operators now felt like a huge weight had been lifted from their shoulders.

"I'm sorry this is what it took for you to find out." Meghan said, referring to her injury.

"Oh sweetie, I found out a long time ago, I was just waiting for you to tell me."

"What do you mean?" Meghan asked, confused. Ela was now confused as well.

"I've known that you were interested in girls for years now." Maria explained, "I also knew that this was a very big and personal thing to deal with that was also none of my business. So instead of prodding, I decided to wait until you were comfortable with telling me. I was beginning to think you were never going to tell me."

Meghan didn't know what to think, her mother knew all along, but didn't say anything for the sake of keeping her comfortable and happy. Part of her was thankful and appreciative, another part wished that she did confront her so this conversation could have been over with a long time ago, "How did you find out?"

"Remember your little 'anarchy' phase?" She said bluntly.

"My what?"

"This." Maria reached into the purse she was carrying and pulled out a photo, "After this I had a hunch that you might be interested in the same sex."

Meghan looked at the old picture of herself in horror, "Oh my God, why do you have that?!"

"This was when she was on the swim team." She turned to show the picture to Ela.

"She doesn't need to see that!" Meghan tried to swipe the photo from her mothers hand, but it was too late.

Ela looked at the photo and raised her eyebrows in surprise. It appeared to be taken while Meghan was still in high school. The sides of her head were completely shaved, the hair on the top of her head was spiked up, and to top it all off, there was a leopard print bandana wrapped around her neck. Ela's surprise quickly turned into laughter, which she tried to suppress.

"It's not funny!" Meghan shouted.

"I'm not laughing." Ela lied.

"I didn't think it was that blatantly obvious."

"I think the reason why no one knew you were bisexual was because they all thought you were full blown lesbian."

Ela and Maria burst out laughing while Meghan covered her face to hide her embarrassment. This is definitely not how she thought her mother would react.

* * *

Three operators sat outside of Six's office, waiting for the meeting to start. Three times this meeting had been scheduled and rescheduled, thanks to the leaders busy and inconsistent workload.

Now Monika, Emma and Mark were waiting to be called in, half expecting to be told that they would have to return at a later time yet again.

"The three of you can come in now." Came her voice from inside the office. The three of them walked inside and saw the woman sitting at her desk, "Thank you all for coming, and apologies for the delays."

"It's alright ma'am." Monika said, "What do you need from us?"

"Well, as I said, we have three new operators joining us in a couple weeks." She explained, "Same old routine, take them in and get them situated."

"We can do that, who are they?" Emma asked.

"I have their files right here." Six pulled out the three files of the new joins, "Twitch. Your assigned operator comes from the South Korean 707th Special Mission Battalion." She handed the French woman the file, "Her name is Grace Nam, codename Dokkaebi."

Emma took the file and skimmed over it, "I'll look after her ma'am, you can count on me." She then left the room.

"Mute."

Mark stepped up and nodded.

"Your new colleague is also coming from the 707th." She handed him the file, "His name is Chul Kyung Hwa, codename Vigil."

Mark took the file and similar to Emma, quickly skimmed through the information. When he was done, he simply nodded and took his leave.

"IQ."

The remaining operator stepped up to the desk.

"Your new comer is from Poland's Operational and Maneuvering Response Group."

" _GROM, same as Ela."_ Monika thought.

"The assigned operators name is Zofia Bosak."

" _Bosak, same as…"_

"Wait, what?!"

* * *

Author's note: Not going to lie, I struggled with this one but at least its finally finished. I wanted to get Meghan's coming out scene right and although I don't think it's perfect, I'm happy with it. And yes that was a reference to her American Anarchy headgear. Also, I know Mute speaks in game but I love the idea of him not speaking whatsoever in this story. As always, hope you enjoyed and feel free to leave a review. Until next time.


	25. Chapter 24

Author's note: Here we are, another chapter down, only a lot more to go. As always, thanks to RStyle for beta reading. Enjoy.

* * *

What Will It Take?

Chapter 24

* * *

"Amelie, we're going to be late!" Lena whined as she practically dragged the French woman by the hand.

"She has a bad leg chérie, it's not like she's going anywhere."

Lena stopped and glared at her girlfriend, "That's not funny." They walked into the hospital room and met the two operators, "Did we miss it?"

"Hey guys." Said Meghan, "And no, you didn't miss anything."

"The suka went to go get them." Ela answered.

"Ela!" Meghan chastised, knowing what the word meant, "She's been nothing but nice to us since I got here, can't you lighten up on her a bit?"

"Once you're back in the room and safe from her, maybe."

Meghan rolled her eyes at her girlfriends antics, she also felt her heart flutter a bit when Ela said 'the room' indicating that they would be staying together tonight. Only then did she realize that there was an extra person in the room that she didn't notice earlier, "And who is this?"

"Oh, right." Amelie said, "Meghan, Ela, this is my cousin, Katarina."

"Hello everyone." Was all the newcomer had to say.

"Nice to meet you Katarina." Meghan greeted. She found it hard to believe that she and Amelie were related. Unlike her cousin, Katarina spoke with an American accent, had emerald green eyes, and hair so vibrantly red that it almost looked fake.

"You as well." Katarina greeted back.

Meghan quickly found one resemblance however, having a natural death stare on their face even when nothing was upsetting them must run in the family. The whole situation was strange to her, she was perfectly fine with meeting Amelie's cousin, but found it odd that she would choose to meet her in the hospital of all places.

Ela also found the redheads appearance odd, but for a different reason that she couldn't quite put her finger on.

Katerina must have picked up on this as she quickly explained why she was there. "Not that I'm unhappy for your recovery, but the only reason I'm here is because these two needed a ride."

"A ride?" Meghan looked at Lena, "What happened to your car?"

Lena faced away from the SEAL, pretending she didn't hear.

"You totaled it again didn't you?"

"It wasn't totaled…not completely this time." The British girl finally answered.

Meghan turned her attention to Amelie, "What about your car?"

"My car is what she crashed into." The French woman said, glaring at Lena.

"I didn't see it coming."

"It was parked in my driveway."

By now, Katarina had lost interest in the conversation, probably due to the fact that she had heard the couples argument already. She took a seat in the corner and pulled out a rather large pocket knife and proceeded to clean her nails with it.

"Wait a minute." Ela finally realized what was off, "How did you get in here? I only had visitors passes for these two."

"My dad is a general." She answered without looking up, "He has top secret clearance and is always traveling to different bases around the United Nations."

"And you just tag along?" Meghan asked.

"Yep, my siblings and I. Free travel with room and board, I'd be foolish not to take advantage."

"He must have a hell of a clearance level to have access to this place."

"He does, in fact, he's currently working with your boss on a certain project."

"Oh, that kind of clearance." Was Meghan's response.

"I'm back." Ashe entered the room, carrying two crutches and taking notice of the young couple, "Oh, hey guys."

"Hello luv, nice to see you again." Lena greeted.

"Nice to see you again too, and who is…this?"

Hearing Ashe's voice finally made Katarina look up from her little 'manicure', as soon as their eyes met, they both paused.

"K-Kat-uh Katarina." The redhead answered, having trouble finding her voice as she stood up, "Nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you too." They shook hands, "I uh, like your hair."

"Thanks."

"Is that your natural color?"

"It is actually, a lot of people don't believe so." Katarina commented as she ran her fingers through her crimson locks, "Your hair looks nice as well."

"Thanks." Ashe blushed.

"I've never seen white hair like that before."

"It's a genetic trait, it's not because I'm old." Ashe explained, immediately feeling stupid for the comment, of course she wasn't old.

"And here I thought you just looked good for your age."

Everyone else was starting to feel awkward, except for Ela who was happy that the white haired nurse had finally focused her attention on someone else.

"Um Ashe?" Meghan finally spoke up.

"Oh yeah." The two stopped their flirting to focus on the main subject for today. It was a very special moment indeed, today all of the nano bots and Meghan's physical therapy sessions would finally pay off. Not only was she due to receive a set of crutches to help her move around on her own, but she was also finally being discharged from the hospital, "Your crutches. Let's give this a try. Let me just help you up-"

"I can do that." Ela interrupted. She immediately moved in and helped her girlfriend sit upright.

"Very well." Said Ashe, "Now take these and try to stand."

Meghan took a crutch under each arm and used them to slowly lift herself off of the bed. Before everyone's eyes, she began moving around on her own accord.

Lena jumped for joy, "Cheers luv!"

Ela and Amelie smiled as it was a relief to finally see Meghan out of that bed that she had been stuck in for weeks. Ela gave her a congratulatory kiss on the cheek, "I'm happy to see you moving around again."

"How does everything feel?" Asked Ashe.

"A little stiff," Meghan answered, "but it's nice to be standing on my own two feet again, well sort of."

"Once you get moving everything should loosen up, as long as you keep up the physical exercises we went over you'll be back to walking normal in no time."

"I've been bedridden for so long, I'm worried that my physique and endurance may have suffered." Meghan said, flexing her arm and examining her bicep.

"I can definitely help you with that." Ela said, without even thinking. She immediately bushed once she saw the look everyone was giving her.

"You really are up the walls aren't you?" Meghan asked. Ela didn't bother to answer as the others laughed.

"Right." Said Ashe, "Let's go see Dr. Kateb shall we."

* * *

"So Monika, what do you think of your new operator." Emma asked. The three of them were sitting at one of the lounge tables, going over the files of the new incoming personnel.

"I'm not sure. Her record is impressive, but something just seems…off." The blonde answered.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, she graduated at the top of her class in GROM, she has an extensive combat record, and she's even married to a fellow special operations operative with a one year old child. But look here." She said pointing at a section in Zofia's file, "Refuses to talk about her fathers suicide or about her childhood with Ela."

"I didn't know Ela had a sister or that her father took his own life."

"Neither did I, she is very sensitive about her past, I doubt anyone other than perhaps Meghan knows anything about her family."

"Are you going to tell her that her sister is coming to the team?"

"I'm not sure, she has enough on her plate as is, with Meghan being in the hospital." Monika contemplated, "Maybe I'll surprise her. She's been under a lot of stress lately, maybe a family reunion would be a nice surprise."

"Sounds like a good plan."

"What about your operator?"

"She seems fairly standard for an operator, smart, tech savvy, great at thinking outside the box." Emma analyzed, "Reports of some disciplinary issues, including being the ire of a general, but nothing that seems detrimental to the team. I think she will be fine. What about you Mark?"

The quiet man simply shrugged his shoulders. He turned the file towards the two women and pointed to one particular detail.

"Place of birth redacted?" Monika read, confused.

"Why would they keep that under wraps?" Emma asked.

"I have my suspicions, but can't say for sure."

"Hey guys!" Eliza suddenly entered the lounge.

"Good morning Eliza." Emma greeted, Mark simply waved.

"Hey babe."

"Gut tag." Monika said.

"I was thinking we could try that new place down the street for lunch, what do you think?"

"I'm okay, you can go without me."

"Are you sure, want me to get you anything?"

"No thanks, I'm fine." Monika focused back on Zofia's file, no longer paying attention to her girlfriend.

"Everything okay?" Eliza was now concerned.

"Everything is perfectly fine." The blonde said in a flat tone.

"Well, okay." Eliza was not oblivious to the fact that Monika wasn't really fine, but two years of being together taught her that prying wouldn't get her anywhere. The German woman probably needed some space and would tell her what was bothering her when she was ready, "Call me if you change your mind."

"Mhm."

Eliza leaned in for a kiss, but Monika turned her head so her lips only landed on her cheek. Eliza didn't say anything about the gesture despite the hurt that was clearly visible in her eyes, she simply left to give her girlfriend some time to herself, all the while wondering what she had done wrong.

Monika immediately felt regret in her actions, it took all her willpower not to run after the redhead and give her the kiss she wanted, but she was still upset and had to stop herself.

Emma, being totally unaware of how relationships work, was ignorant of the awkwardness that just passed. Mark on the other hand, gave Monika a look of concern.

"It's complicated." Monika immediately defended.

Mark gestured towards the door that Eliza had just left.

"I know that was unnecessarily mean. I don't want to talk about it."

Mark put his hands up in defeat.

"What was unnecessary?" Emma asked. Before anyone could answer, a message popped up on her phone, "Never mind, I have to go."

"Where are you off to?"

"Julian just asked for my technical expertise on a project he's working on, some kind of neon sign. Anyway I'll see you two later."

"See you around."

Mark waved his goodbye.

* * *

Ela was fidgeting in her seat. In her hand she was twirling a pencil that she had picked up off of Gustave's desk. The gang was waiting for him to finish up the last of the paperwork that would allow Meghan to leave the hospital. They all decided to have a small celebration at the barracks when they were done.

Ela wasn't excited because of the party, she wasn't normally one for social gatherings, however she was looking forward to the 'afterparty', specifically sharing her bed with the Navy SEAL once again as they took each other around the world and back. Although she would never say that out loud.

"Let's see, everything seems to be in order." Gustave said as he finished the last of the paperwork, "Ashe, could you please file these away."

"Yes doctor." She said as she took the paperwork from her boss.

"Need any help?" Katarina asked, not waiting for an answer as she followed her out of the room. Since they met, the redheads eyes had been glued to the nurse and her assets.

"Who do you think is going to ask the other out first?" Lena asked as soon as they were out of earshot.

"My money is on Katarina, she's always strait forward when she knows what she wants." Amelie said.

"I don't know, Ashe might be a little timid, but she gets very bold when she sees someone attractive." Meghan countered.

"As long as she stays away from you, I don't care what she does." Said Ela.

"Ela for God's sake, she was never interested in me, you were the one she had the hots for the whole time."

"She…what?" Ela didn't know how to respond.

"Yes, after your initial meeting with her, she told me that she found you extremely attractive and hot."

"Even though I practically threatened her?"

"I guess she gets off on it, I don't know. For a moment I actually thought YOU might be the one that needed to be hidden from her."

"If you're done talking about my assistant, we can continue." Gustave groaned. Much like Lena was to Meghan, Gustave saw the nurse as a younger sibling. The white haired girl first came to him six years ago as an exchange student fresh out of high school, now she was one of his best apprentices. Once she completed her nursing degree, he helped her land a job here at the hospital they were currently in.

"Sorry Gustave, you were saying?" Meghan said.

"Right." He gathered several materials and began handing them to her, "Here's your prescription of pain meds, be sure to only take the recommended doses as they are addictive."

Meghan took the orange bottle not worried at all about the addictive factor, she was sure she wouldn't be needing them anyway.

"Here's the booklet with the daily leg stretching and exercise routine that Ashe tailored just for you."

Meghan took the booklet, "That was nice of her, if she's not back by the time we leave, can you thank her for me?"

"Of course." He pulled out more papers, "These are your final discharge papers, one copy is for you, the other is to be given to Six."

"About time." Meghan said, looking over the paperwork, "Thanks Gustave, is there anything else I need to know?"

Gustave took off the reading glasses he was wearing, "Well, I want to advise you to avoid all physical training, other than the program made for you. This includes training with the team and going to the gym."

"Sure." Meghan said, almost dismissively.

"I mean it." He reinforced, "I know you, you always like to push yourself against your limits. As bold as that is, pushing beyond what's recommended for you may result in you getting hurt all over again."

"Nous allons faire en sorte qu'elle ne fait pas de mal d'elle-même." Amelie said in their native tongue.

"Merci."

"What was that?" Meghan asked.

"She said that we're going to make sure you don't hurt yourself luv." Lena translated.

Amelie looked at her girlfriend, impressed, "You are learning well chérie."

"Can we go now?" Ela asked, trying not to show the restlessness in her voice.

"There is one more thing. We are still waiting on the results of the blood test, to make sure that all the nano bots are, in fact, completely out of your system." He said.

"Meaning?" Meghan asked.

"Absolutely no sexual activity for a week."

An audible snap could be heard as the pencil Ela was holding was broken into two pieces.

* * *

The room was abuzz as several high ranking officials from countries all over the world had gathered in one small room. Some were military generals, some were politicians, all had come for the same purpose.

"Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for joining me." Six said, "As I'm sure you all know, we are here to discuss Team Rainbow's after action report along with the results of the following investigation. Do we have any questions or concerns before we start." No one raised their hand, "Very well. Captain Isaac."

"Thank you ma'am." Isaac stepped in front of the audience as the screen turned on next to him, "This is the official after action and findings report for Operation Blood Orchid."

Everyone gave him their full attention as the slides played on the screen as he spoke.

"On August 29th 2017, we received a tip of possible White Mask activity in a secluded jungle near Victoria Harbor. Two days later, we began observing the suspected area via satellite imagery. Initial observations revealed an unfamiliar structure along with possible activity in the area, however dense jungle overgrowth made getting a positive reading nearly impossible, plus we had no record of any buildings in the area. After some digging, we managed to get ahold of a record that was being kept secret by the Chinese government, a closed down theme park. We struck a deal with them, the buildings records in exchange for removing the threat outside of public eyes. Thus on September 17th, a two man scout team was sent into the jungle to get visual confirmation of any potential enemy activity."

Some of the officials took notes, while others seemed to take them mentally, or were just too fascinated to do so.

"After three days, not only were they able to confirm the existence of the park, but verify that it was also being used as the main base of operations by the White Masks, for several weeks, they continued to observe the enemy base. During one observation, they discovered that the White Masks were also in possession of two high explosive devices. On October 11th, Team Rainbow arrived in China, with intentions of conducting a raid on the compound on October 17th. However, on October 14th, the scout team was compromised and captured. Upon realizing what had happened, Team Rainbow was forced to not only commence the raid immediately, three days ahead of schedule, but also come up with a new plan of attack practically on the spot. The team was inserted via helicopter into the base, and after approximately twenty-seven minutes, the base was deemed secure with both scout members rescued and both bombs defused."

Some members were impressed at how fast the raid was completed, especially after the sudden change.

"The next day, the official investigation of the site began along with cleanup operations. In the end, the team had recovered over five hundred weapons including fifteen rocket propelled grenade launchers and forty-five heavy machine guns. Approximately 11.5 million dollars' worth of illegal narcotics, five stolen vehicles, and five terabytes worth of enemy intel."

"Excuse me captain." One man raised his hand.

"Yes, General Du Couteau."

"You said that this was their MAIN base of operations, does the missions success mean that the White Masks are no longer a threat?"

"Unfortunately sir, no." Isaac answered, "You see, after the raid was completed, the bodies of one hundred and eighteen enemy combatants were recovered. The scout team initially observed approximately two hundred personnel within the base. We later found an escape tunnel that we believe was used by the missing enemy combatants to flee the site before the raid started."

"And what makes you think that these few escapees still pose a bigger threat than other groups?" Another diplomat asked.

"Because we know that there is a high value individual among them."

"Well that may be," Another spoke, "but why not let another unit, or even local police deal with them if they're so small."

"Because hunting him down is Rainbow's top priority. As long as he's out there, he is still a considerable threat. The White Masks are like bacteria, as long as one lives, they will only multiply and grow."

"Why?" Asked on of the female generals, "What makes this individual so important, that the most elite unit, and expensive mind you, has to take charge in searching for him?"

Isaac hesitated to answer, he should have dropped the matter before it reached this point, but now he had no choice. He looked at Six, who simply nodded, wordlessly giving him permission, "Because he is a former member of Team Rainbow."

The room fell to a dead silence.

"You mean to tell us that we are fighting against one of you?" Du Couteau asked.

"Not an operator, but yes. Former logistics officer C.T. Peterson has been confirmed to be a high ranking member of the White Masks."

Small conversations began to brew among the small crowd. Each seeming to share their opinion on the revelation with the person to their left and right. Isaac could only sigh in defeat, he knew admitting this may have potentially cost Team Rainbow a lot politically.

"Ladies and gentlemen," Six now took the spotlight, "do we have any more questions or concerns?"

"Um, yes actually." One spoke, "you said in the beginning of this meeting that we all knew why we were here, but I'm starting to think that you don't quite get what the purpose of this meeting is."

"I'm sorry General Swain, could you elaborate?"

"This meeting wasn't just about reviewing the outcome of Blood Orchid, it was also an evaluation of you and your team." The older man explained, "You are one of the smallest military units in in NATO and yet you require the most funding and diplomatic admin work. Rainbow was reactivated nearly two years ago with the purpose and promise of defeating the new terror threat that is the White Masks, with as little personnel as possible."

Six thought back to when she made that promise two years prior. It had been hard to sell the idea, but she had eventually convinced the United Nations that the reactivation of the counter-terrorism unit wasn't just necessary, but a necessity.

"Don't get me wrong." He continued, "Your soldiers are some of the best in the world, skilled beyond what we could ever hope for, but it seems that all you are good at is leaving a trail of bodies in your wake. For two years, every investigation has yielded little to no results and although you have proven great at defusing situations that are already in progress, you have proven incompetent at predicting and preventing future incidents as they always seem to be one step ahead of you."

All Isaac could do was hold his tongue as the general criticized him and his boss. Part of him wanted to lash back, but another part knew that their was some merit to the man's harsh words.

"Until now, we could have blamed it on pure luck that they have managed to elude your grasp, but now we have the real reason, that one of your own is now among their ranks." The was a mix of anger and disappointment in his voice, "I mean, are you sure it's only one?"

"Yes sir, we have no evidence nor reason to believe anyone else from us is in there." Isaac answered.

"I'm sorry, but I am failing to see the value in having Rainbow in our arsenal."

"General, I assure you that we are doing everything we can." Six reassured, "We are still the best choice for this job."

"The United Nations seems to disagree. I present to you, Directive 87." He pulled out what looked to be an official document and began reading it, "In regards of military operations involving the eradication of the terror group known as White Masks, Team Rainbow is no longer to take charge of counter terror operations. Instead they are to be reassigned to a supporting role as the new head of operations sees fit."

"That's insane." Isaac spoke, "Who is going to be head of operations now?"

"That would be me." Swain spoke with a hint of pride.

"With all due respect General, what forces do you have that are capable of handling this operation?" Asked Six.

"The Crimson Elites." He answered with a smile, "My new special forces unit can handle taking on this project. I have more of them than you do operators, and I'm willing to bet that any one of them could give your operators a run for their money."

Their were mixed reactions in the room regarding this new change. A majority of the people seemed to agree with the implementation of a new unit was a necessary change. A small handful, including Du Couteau, were not so sure, "Excuse me General." He spoke up, "What is it exactly that makes you confident that your team is more qualified for the job?"

General Swain gave another smile, "We already know where the next attack is happening."

* * *

"You didn't have to clean everything while I was gone." Meghan said.

"I didn't want a mountain of dust waiting for you when you got back." Ela responded. She had made sure to keep Meghan's room and belongings in order while she was recovering.

Upon returning from the hospital, the team decided to have a small celebration. It avoided all the alcohol and craziness that was the norm for operators, it was more of a simple welcome back for Meghan. She even introduced Lena and Amelie to a few members of the team.

Now the two of them were in Meghan's room, ready to call it a night.

"I also kept your black eyes safely put away, and your uniform should be back from the cleaners tomorrow."

"You took my uniform to the cleaners?" Meghan asked as she came out of the bathroom, changed into her pajamas.

"I couldn't let it get wrinkly. Not when it looks so good on you." Ela explained, already laying on the bed. She wasn't even trying to hide the fact that she was checking out the SEAL, dressed in a tight tank top and shorts, very apparent that she was not wearing a bra. She herself was only wearing a loose fitting t-shirt and her underwear.

"I knew you were the best girlfriend ever." Meghan said as she took her spot in the bed next to her. She leaned over and gave her the Polish girl a kiss, "Thanks."

"No problem." Ela said. She then went in for another, deeper kiss, which Meghan returned eagerly. It was so nice to finally be back, in her own bed, next to the girl who was the center of her world. They got lost in the feeling of having the other's lips on their own, loving the contact that briefly made them feel complete. Before they knew it, the kiss slowly turned into a long make out session. They wrapped their arms around each other as Ela pulled the blonde on top of her. Things were getting pretty heated, before Ela could stop herself, she reached for the hem of Meghan's shirt.

Meghan quickly rebounded and pushed herself of the green haired girl, "Doc said…"

"Right." Ela said as she came back to earth, "Sorry."

Meghan could see the disappointment in Ela's face and offered her a smile, "Hang in there." She was fully aware of the fact that, at the moment, Ela wanted nothing more than for the two of them to make love in a manner that made up for the lost time.

"I'll try." Ela responded.

"We've managed to last this long, what's another week?" She kissed Ela again, this time on the cheek to avoid another incident. She was better at hiding it, but she was even more eager to be with the Polish girl. Seeing Ela in her panties was not helping either.

Ela could only groan in response.

"At least we're in the same bed, I missed having you next to me." Meghan said.

"I'm definitely thankful for that." Ela agreed. The two of them settled under the covers, at which point Ela wrapped both of her arms around Meghan's torso, wrapped both of her legs around her good leg, and rested her head on her chest.

"That does seem very comfortable." Meghan giggled.

"Shh. I'm listening." Ela responded.

"To what? Oh." Meghan realized that her girlfriend was listening to her heartbeat.

Ela had her ear planted right on top of Meghan's heart. She was listening to the slow rhythmic beat, which rang in her ears better than any music, remembering how close it was to never beating again.

"It's still going strong, thanks to you." Meghan said. "You saved my heart."

"In a way, you also saved mine." Ela said, keeping her head in place.

"I guess that guy did do a number on you." Meghan said, referring to the man who overpowered her during the raid.

"I'm not talking about that."

"Oh?"

"I was so lost and broken when I arrived here, and yet you didn't give up. Even when you had every right to leave me stuck where I was, not only did you help me come to terms with my demons, but you helped me make amends and move on. You showed me that I'm so much more than tool for battle, that I'm so much more than my past and that it doesn't define my future. You're the most important person I have and I almost lost you." Ela was trying not to cry as she tightened her grip on the blonde. "Thank you for being here with me, thank you for being a part of my life."

Meghan was holding back tears as well. She was now returning the embrace, the two of them holding on to each other as if they might lose one another at any moment. After a few moments, Meghan leaned down and whispered into her girlfriends ear, "I love you, Ela."

Ela finally lifted her head to look at Meghan in the eyes, not sure if she heard her properly. The look her girlfriend was giving her said that she had heard right, and that she meant it, "I love you too."

The two kissed as if to seal the sentiment between them.

"We should get some sleep." Meghan offered.

"I don't think I can, I don't want to wake up tomorrow and realize this was all a dream." Ela answered.

"This is real." Meghan reassured, "I'm here, and I always will be, I promise."

"I guess you haven't let me down yet."

Meghan giggled as she turned out the light. She then leaned down and kissed the top of Ela's head, "Goodnight, Ela."

"Goodnight, kochanie." Ela rested her head back onto Meghan's chest. Letting her heartbeat slowly lull her to sleep.

* * *

Author's note: And now we have the first 'I love you' between our two main characters. I can't believe its now been eleven chapters since they've been together. I originally had more ideas for this act, but I was honestly getting tired of Meghan being in that hospital bed, so I cut a lot of scenes out, especially with her mother. So I may do some short stories involving Maria later, let me know if you guys would be interested in reading that. Also, we have yet ANOTHER yuri couple in the works, because there's no such thing as too much yuri. Fun fact, I included Ashe x Katarina from League of Legends because of 'Wounded' by NyokaKione. Not only is it still one of my favorite fanfics to date, it was also the first fic that showed me just how amazing authors on this site can be, it's part of the reason I'm writing on here now. As always, hope you enjoyed and feel free to leave a review. Until next time.


	26. Chapter 25

Author's note: Alright, here's another one. Just a heads up, there's some suggestive themes here but nothing too crazy. This will also be the final chapter of Act 4. Again, special shout out to RStyle for being my beta reader. Enjoy.

* * *

What Will It Take?

Chapter 25

* * *

Seven days. Seven excruciatingly long days of being denied what they desired more than anything. Obviously there was much more than intimate physical contact in their relationship, but they both knew exactly what the significant other desired for; most importantly: they desired for the same thing. She wasn't sure who was going to lose it quicker: herself or her girlfriend. Either way, it didn't matter, that week long wait that Gustave had ordered for her was now over and Meghan was ready to take her girlfriend on a wild ride they would both never forget.

Meghan was the cold and calculating kind of person, but that right there was a completely different kind of animal. Ruled by lust and desire, a fantasy of Ela and herself was all there was in her mind. She burned in mere anticipation; she couldn't wait anymore.

Ela had spent the day training with the rest of the team, which was perfect for Meghan as it gave her more than enough time to get everything ready for the evening. Dimmed lights, a nice scented candle lit on the counter, a warm bubble bath drawn in the bathroom; she had it all planned out. And as soon as Ela stepped into that room, she would help her out of her sweat stained training clothes, only to then enjoy a relaxing bath in the tub for a while prepped for both of them.

She wanted to make sure Ela didn't have to lift a finger as she scrubbed and lathered the Polish girl, maybe even get a head start on the nights special activities right then and there. Otherwise, once they were cleansed, they would return to the bed where Meghan would give her girlfriend a nice full body massage to rid any lingering aches leftover from the days training. Finally once all the kinks in her body were nice and loose, the two of them would enjoy each other's intimacy until exhaustion completely runs them dry; Meghan hoped they would make it until the sun rises.

She made sure everything was perfect, even going as far as acquiring some 'special items' to spice their night up. Her current attire, in fact, was one of the most important of these items. Consisting of a purple silk robe with white lining that she purposely left open, revealing a provocative white and partially see-through lingerie set underneath, complete with stockings and garter belt. She was laying on the bed, ensuring that she would be the first thing Ela saw when she entered the room, she would be shocked if the Polish girl didn't melt on the spot. With everything set, all she had to do was wait… any minute, now.

As if on cue, here was a gentle knock on the door. Show time.

"Come in." Meghan said in an angelical tone, almost singing the last syllables.

"Meghan?" Came a familiar voice as the door was opened. She quickly recognized the voice not as Ela's, but of a certain blonde German.

"Shit." Meghan whispered as she closed her robe just in time for the German to enter, "Hey Monika, wasn't expecting you." She greeted, trying her best to conceal her embarrassment as her face begun to burn. She wondered if her friend had seen anything.

"Clearly." Monika responded, not helping but noticing the décor.

"What did you need?" The SEAL quickly changed subjects, on full damage control.

"Do you have a minute? There's a couple things I need to talk to you about." Monika failed to hide the fact that she looked a little distraught.

"Sure, what's up?" Instinctively, Meghan sat up. She failed to remember when was the last time she had seen that face.

"You and Eliza are best friends right?"

"Yeah."

"And I'm assuming that you tell each other about…major things going on in your personal lives?" It was painfully obvious Monika had no idea how to tell her. Now that Meghan managed to get a closer look at the German, there were clear signs of dried trails of tears below her eyes.

"That's a weird way of asking if we talk, but yeah."

"Has she…said anything to you? About me, or our relationship?"

Meghan thought about it, "Not recently, no."

"Has she seemed unhappy?"

"No."

"Anything unusual at all?"

"Well, unusual is a loose term for Eliza, but no." Meghan was now worried, "Monika, why are you asking me this?" She got up with her crutches and hobbled over her friend. Only then did she notice the German appeared to be on the brink of tears, "Hey, what's wrong?"

"She's hiding something from me."

"What do you mean?" Meghan asked, wrapping a comforting arm around her shoulders.

"A few weeks ago, I noticed one of her drawers was locked, I didn't think anything of it, until she said that she kept some files in there."

"Sounds normal, what's got you so worked up?"

"She lied!" A couple of rogue tears landed on Monika's cheeks.

"Hold on, hold on now. How do you know she's lying?"

"Because of the way she said it. You know the tone of voice she will use when she lies to Six about all the destroyed walls. She used the same tone with me. She's never talked to me like that…she's never lied to me."

Meghan was shocked, she never expected Eliza to do something like that to her girlfriend, not after they had been through so much together. But then, she remembered one key detail, "Wait, you said one of her drawers was locked?"

"Yes." Monika answered, wiping her tears away.

The engagement ring! Oh poor Monika. She was hands down the smartest member of the team, her technical abilities and her intuition when it came to people were above reproach. However, it was now the cause of her downfall in this case. She was right, Eliza was hiding something from her, but not in the nefarious manner she feared. Now all Meghan had to do was calm her down without revealing Eliza's plan.

"Monika," Meghan brought her friend in for a hug, "listen to me, Eliza LOVES you. She might have some loose screws and totally unsure about anything, but that's something that you can be damn certain about: she's head over heels for you. She would never do anything to hurt you."

"But she's never lied, or hidden anything from me. We tell each other everything. Why wouldn't she trust me?" Monika had a look of concentration on her face as she was contemplating all possibilities, "After two years, do you think she's tired of me?"

"Definitely not. In fact, I'm fairly sure that she's just as, if not more excited to be with you than ever." If only Monika knew.

"I don't know." Monika took a second to reflect on her time with the redhead, "You know, when we went on our first date, I thought that it wouldn't go anywhere, that it was just going to be a quick fling. I had never even been interested in seeing a woman, and I thought a date with a redheaded pyromaniac would only reaffirm that. At most I was just giving her a curtesy date before telling her that we should just stay friends." Monika smiled, "Then we went on another date, and another. Next thing I knew, I was calling her my girlfriend. Now here we are, two years together and it's been the best relationship I've ever had. I don't want it to end."

"And it won't, not as long as you two still love each other." Meghan reassured, "Listen, just give her a chance, who knows, maybe it's nothing. For all we know it could be something good."

"Do you think so?"

"Do you still trust her?"

"Yes."

"And you still love her?"

"Of course I do." Monika answered with sheer determination.

"Then have faith in her."

Monika thought hard on the matter, "I suppose regardless, all I can do is wait and see what she does."

"I'm telling you, you don't have anything to worry about."

"Thanks Meghan." Monika said, relieved to have her mind put somewhat at ease.

"No problem." Meghan gave her another warm hug, "You should go be with her. Where is she anyway? Where is everyone else for that matter?"

"Oh, right." Monika took on a more formal tone, "That's the other thing I needed to talk to you about."

"What is it?" Meghan asked.

"I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but you're going to have to put your plans with Ela on hold."

"What do you mean?"

"The training session was extended overnight."

"What?! But we never do training overnight!"

"Six said we need to increase the amount of training and boost our performance, which means longer training exercises and more of them. She told us this morning, she seemed upset about something."

"Well, when are they coming back?"

"I'm not sure, there was talk about even extending it to a few days."

"A FEW DAYS?!" Meghan shrieked at the top of her lungs, completely losing the calm she's famous for. She couldn't help it; she was horny beyond belief. A wave of anger and frustration replaced her excitement.

She needed someone to stop her, otherwise, she was going to demand an explanation to Six herself.

"I'm sorry, I know you two were looking forward to seeing each other."

"I can't believe this." Meghan felt frustration as all of her planning had gone to waste, "Wait, then why are you here?"

"Mark, Emma and myself had to come back because we are getting some new operators tomorrow and we're their guides for the week."

"That's neat I guess. It's always nice to have some new faces around here." Meghan said, still clearly upset as she blew out the candle and flipped the lights on fully.

"I guess Ela really is missing out." Monika said with her eyebrows raised.

Meghan looked down to see that in her moving around, her robe had opened again, giving Monika a full view of the display, "Oh my God!" She yelled as she did her best to cover herself up and her face turned red.

* * *

"You know, doing an op overnight is one thing, but in England during the winter time?" Jordan complained as he shivered.

The whole gang was outside in a makeshift camp, ordered to set up 'defensive positions' which were supposed to last throughout the night. Several tents were set up, used for sleeping and storing equipment in, the team had split up into groups that took turns in guarding the encampment site while the others slept. Several of them were taking their turns at the outer guard posts.

"Well, you heard Six: 'We need to improve the team's performance' whatever that means." Miles said.

"We're known as being the best counter-terror unit in the world and she still sees that as needing improvement?"

"Why can't we at least go inside the training building?" Jack asked.

"Apparently it's being renovated. Also in the name of improving training." Miles answered.

"How convenient."

"The place is made of concrete anyway, no insulation to help with the cold."

"How you ladies doing over there?" Jordan called to Eliza.

Eliza and Ela were huddled together about twenty yards away in their position. Eliza gave Jordan a thumbs up while Ela simply let out an annoyed growl.

"How are you holding up?" Eliza asked.

"I've been better." Ela answered.

Everyone was displeased about being out in the cold overnight, but Eliza could see that the Polish girl was especially annoyed for a different reason, "You wish you were with her don't you?"

"Of course not, I would much rather be out here freezing my ass off than be in a warm bed with the person I love." Ela rolled her eyes, it took all her willpower to keep her from shooting herself with her PR-15 and going home.

"Hey, I get it, my girlfriends not here either, not that she was talking to me anyway." Eliza muttered that last part to herself, "At least it's only for one night."

"Right. Sorry for snapping."

Both women missed having their significant other by their side, but at least they could take solace in the fact that Meghan and Monika would be warm tonight, unlike themselves.

"I see you two are enjoying the cold as well." Another female voice joined them.

"Hey Yumi." Eliza greeted, "How's your evening going?"

"About as nice as it can be."

"Where's Masaru?"

"He was on guard duty earlier, now he's getting some rest."

"Are you sure he's not with Siu?" Eliza teased, exploiting the obvious jealousy she felt from the Chinese woman.

"That's not funny. They've gotten too close for my liking since coming back from China." Yumi snapped.

"Yumi, relax. Masaru would never cheat on you, he's too lazy to handle two women at once, I'm surprised he's not too lazy to handle one."

"Touché," Yumi chuckled, "I still feel like I need to keep a close eye on those two."

"You're worrying over nothing." The redhead reassured.

"Hey," Jordan called, "could one of you go and make sure Shuhrat's awake, his post begins in five."

"I'll do it. Walking might make me forget how miserable I am.." Ela offered, moving around might help to get blood pumped back into her legs

The tents that the operators slept in were about a hundred yards back, set up in rows of five. Each member got their own for the night. Ela began weaving through each one, trying to find the one that housed the Russian man, finally finding it near the back. As she approached, she heard a rustling coming from the inside, indicating that he was awake and getting ready for his turn at the guard post.

She unzipped the flap, "Shuhrat, you have five minutes, are you ready for-WHOA!"

Ela was shocked and even jumped back a bit as she looked into the tent. Shuhrat was indeed inside, but he was definitely not ready, in fact he was completely naked. Even more shocking, on top of him was an equally shocked and equally naked Siu Mei Lin.

"Ela, I'm so sorry!" Siu called from inside as she did her best to cover herself up.

"I could have gone my whole life without seeing that." Ela responded as she turned away from the tent and its occupants.

After a moment, Shuhrat stuck his head out, "When did you say my shift started?"

"In five minutes." Ela answered, still not looking in their direction.

Shuhrat looked back at the Chinese woman, then back at Ela, "I will be there in four." He said before disappearing back into the tent.

Ela covered her ears and let out a groan as she walked away, trying her best to cover up any noise the two were now making. As for her eyes, unfortunately the image of the two engaged in intercourse would now forever be burned into her mind, "What did I do to deserve that?" Ela asked herself as she made her way back to the others. To be fair, if Meghan were out here, she would probably be tempted to do the same. Eliza and Monika would definitely do the same.

Back at the guard post, the others were still endearing the cold while making small talk.

"Is he coming?" Jordan asked.

"What?!" Ela responded, her mind in a totally different place.

"Is he on his way?"

"Oh. Yes, he'll be here."

"Good."

Ela went back to her spot next to Yumi and Eliza. The Japanese woman noticed the look of horror on her face, "You okay?"

"Uh huh." Ela answered, "I don't think you need to worry about Siu."

"What do you-" Yumi's question was suddenly interrupted by the sound of gunfire.

"Contact!" Miles yelled, immediately clicking his UMP-45 off of safe and returning fire.

Before they knew it, they were being rushed by a horde of enemy fighters. They were really just new recruits wearing ski masks and everyone only had paint rounds, but everyone treated it like the real deal, it's one of the best ways to get better.

"There's a group of them coming up on your left!" Jordan shouted to the female group.

"Got it!" Eliza answered as the three women began shooting back.

They were out numbered greatly, but that was nothing new to them. The six of them made quick work of the inexperienced recruits and after only a couple minutes, had dispatched all of them, none of them even getting close to their defensive perimeter.

"Easy." Said Jack, unloading his gun - the magazine was completely empty - and immediately loading another magazine filled with twenty-five paint rounds in.

"Enemies regrouping, prepare for assault." Came Kowalski's voice over the radio.

"There's more coming!" Yumi shouted.

Sure enough, another wave of foes began rushing the outpost. This group was larger than the last, but still clearly inexperienced. Slowly but surely, the operators began picking them off, one by one. By now, all the other operators were awake and making their way to the front line to assist, making the defense of the place even easier. Shuhrat and Siu had brought up their LMG's and Timur had taken perch in a nearby tower. Again, after a few minutes, the assaulting wave had dwindled.

"There's only a few of them left." Jordan pointed out, "There behind cover, I can't get a shot."

"Oh for fucks sake." Ela said. Her tolerance levels had officially been peaked. The long day combined with the bitter cold, the lack of sleep, being out here when she should have been getting laid. Everything had just pushed her over the edge as she hopped over the barrier that they were using for cover.

"Ela, wait!" Eliza's protests went ignored.

Ela quickly spotted the remaining nine enemies taking cover behind some trees and more concrete barriers, pinned down by suppressive fire, they were too busy hiding to notice the flash of green hair approaching. She smiled wickedly as she pulled out a GRZMOT and tossed it behind them, after a few seconds the loud pop went off, indicating the mine had done its job. The rest was easy, she flipped her scorpion to full auto and quickly sprinted over to their location, they were dazed and stumbling from the blast. The first recruit looked up just in time to receive a face full of paint from the Polish operator, who immediately took a knee to take out another. She then side stepped behind a tree to take out one more, using the new cover, she was able to flank two more combatants and eliminate them with another long burst.

By now, the remaining enemies were recovering from the concussion and were about counter attack the lone operator. Deciding not to give them the chance, she quickly moved out of cover and did the last thing they would expect. She ran over and leaped over the barrier they were hiding behind, taking them by surprise as she emptied the remainder of her extended magazine into three more unfortunate fighters. Once her mag was empty, she saw that there was still one more opponent standing right behind her. He raised his rifle to shoot, but Ela was close enough to smack the gun away and deliver an immobilizing punch to the throat. As he recoiled back, she drew her sidearm and fired into him. He was 'dead' after only three rounds but her frustration got the better of her and she emptied all sixteen shots into the unfortunate man, causing him to break character.

"Okay okay, you got me, sheesh!" He said, now fully covered in paint.

Ela felt sorry for him, she knew he had absolutely nothing to do with her current predicament, but gosh did it give her the rush she needed to vent her grievances away.

By now she was breathing heavily and gave the all clear signal as she made her way back to the group. Some of them looked impressed, others looked at her like she had completely lost her mind.

"Feel better?" Eliza asked, with a smirk on her face.

"I think I would still rather get laid." Ela answered.

"Amen to that." Eliza answered as she laughed at the out of character joke.

"Another wave of enemies incoming." Came over the radio.

"Oh come on!"

This was about to be a long night.

* * *

Meghan was finishing up her daily leg exercises, which consisted of the usual bending and flexing. Even though it was now a part of her recovery routine, she was really just looking for a distraction until Ela and the others got back. They were getting easier by the day, but she was still itching to be able to walk and run again as she was seriously concerned about her cardio, you don't get to be a Navy SEAL by running slow. She wanted to try walking without her crutches, it would hurt but she was confident that she could eventualy do it. However, she knew that she would never hear the end of it if Gustave caught her.

"That's enough for today." She said to herself, having worked up a sweat from the seemingly menial movements. Her stomach growling indicated it would be a good idea to go downstairs and get a bite to eat.

As she managed to hobble her way down to the lounge, she noticed Mark and Monika standing by the door, "Good morning Meghan." The German greeted.

"Hey, you off to meet the new guys?" Meghan asked.

"As soon as Emma's ready." Monika answered.

As if on cue, Emma came walking down the hall from her room, "Sorry about that, is everyone ready?"

"Affirmative." Monika answered, "Let's go meet our new friends."

"Let me know if any of them are interesting." Meghan called out as they left.

"Oh, I'm sure you'll find at least one of them interesting." Monika muttered to herself. She had decided not to tell Ela or Meghan that Zofia was about to join the team, she thought that letting Ela see her sister in person would be a nice surprise for the Polish girl.

Now Meghan was alone in the barracks lounge, grabbing herself some breakfast. She had just finished her meal when she heard the front entrance doors open. That was odd, she didn't expect the three of them to be back so soon. To her surprise, it was not the three operators she had spoken to earlier, but everyone else coming back from training.

All of the operators who had spent the night out in the cold were now trickling into the barracks. Meghan was shocked, and a little humored, that they all looked tired, and covered head to toe in paint. Even Taina, who was normally composed during this sort of thing, looked fatigued.

"Hey guys, welcome back." Meghan greeted. Some returned the greeting, some just grunted, too exhausted to form a response.

It was clear that they were all just happy that it was over, thankful to be in the warmth of the indoors. Most of them immediately made a beeline for their rooms, eager to get cleaned up and sleep in an actual bed. Meghan couldn't help but notice that Siu had turned and stayed on the first floor, despite her room being on the second. Others couldn't even be bothered walking that far and just took a seat in the lounge, not caring if they got paint on anything.

Finally, Meghan managed to find her best friend in the crowd, "Hey."

"You missed a fun night." Eliza said, sarcastically.

"Really now, how was it?"

"It was…interesting, as in absolutely fucking horrible." The redhead described, "By the way, how many recruits do we have on this god damned base?"

"I'm not sure, but I know it's a lot. Why?"

"It's a long story." Eliza answered as she looked around for a certain blonde German, "I'm just happy it's over. Where's Monika, by the way?"

"You just missed her. She went to go meet the new team members with Mark and Emma, they should be back in a few hours."

Eliza was completely unfazed by the fact that Rainbow recruited new operators. She was so tired that she just couldn't care less about it, "I guess that gives me enough time to get cleaned up." She was about to walk up to her room before Meghan grabbed her arm, stopping the redhead in her tracks.

"By the way, you have to talk with her." Meghan said in a slightly more serious tone.

"Why, what's up?" Eliza worriedly asked, combined with the serious tone and the look in her friend's eyes, she knew some serious shit went up.

"She came to me earlier, she was pretty stressed about where your relationship is going."

"What do you mean she's stressed? She's the one that's been barely talking to me for the past few days."

"She's just letting her nerves get to her, it's not that big of a deal. Just tell her that you love her, she needs reassurance, that's all."

"I do, I tell her every day, but for some reason she's been cold and distant lately. She refuses to talk about it and I have no idea what I did wrong."

"She thinks your hiding something from her."

"What?"

"Did she almost find your ring?"

Eliza pondered for a moment and quickly remembered that one time a few days ago, "Oh. She tried to open the drawer I'm hiding it in, but I panicked and made something up one the spot."

"Yeah, I figured. Well, she saw right through it, now she thinks you're lying to her about something and she's upset and worried."

"Well, it's not like I can just tell her what it is."

"I mean, you could. Why not just propose to her already?"

"I'm waiting for the right moment. I love her to death and I want my proposal to be absolutely perfect."

"Well, you might want to get on with it, while she still has the patience."

"Is she that mad at me?"

"I managed to calm her down. But she does need reassurance that you're still just as invested in her as she is with you." she spared her friend of the details.

"I see, I'll make this better. I've always managed to make her love me again no matter how much I've upset her."

"How you do it, I honestly have no idea."

"Thanks for the heads up."

"No problem. Now speaking of girlfriends, have you seen…Ela?" As if on cue, Meghan looked towards the doorway and saw that her girlfriend was the last person to enter. She noticed that she was covered in more paint than anyone, and she had a very annoyed look on her face as she walked toward the blonde, "Hey Ela, welcome back."

Ela said nothing as she grabbed Meghan by the collar of her shirt and pulled her toward the stairs, almost dragging her as she had trouble keeping up on her crutches.

"Hey hey hey, Ela slow down."

When they made it to Meghan's room, Ela gently sat her down at the foot of her bed, "Wait here." She firmly demanded before she disappeared into the bathroom. After a few seconds, Meghan heard the shower turn on.

She didn't expect to see her girlfriend being so demanding and proactive. Some might find it unusual at the very least, but not to the Navy SEAL. Seeing her girlfriend like that excited her more than anything. She knew exactly what was on her mind, and she couldn't help but want the exact same thing.

"So how was it?" Meghan asked, trying to distract herself from the building heat in between her legs.

"One of the most ridiculous training missions I have ever done." The Polish girl answered from inside the shower, annoyance still in her voice.

"What exactly happened?"

"They just sent wave after wave of recruits to try and 'take over' our base. All throughout the night."

"Did you get any sleep?"

"No! They just kept sending more and more enemies at us, each wave bigger than the last. I don't see why Six thinks we're the ones that need more training, those recruits don't know the first thing about fighting. Suka's"

"It sounds like Six is really cracking down on us."

"It got to the point where we failed on purpose, just to say that it was over and we might as well pack up and go home. But Six wasn't having it, she made us start the whole thing over."

"That sounds absolutely horrible, but at least it's over." Meghan picked up one of her black eyes and began tinkering with it. Another source of distraction. She realized that her girlfriend was exhausted and just needed someone to vent, and she was happy to be that someone.

After a few minutes, Ela turned off the shower, Meghan didn't notice when the water stopped running, however she did notice when the Bosak tempest was suddenly standing in front of her. She looked up in awe as the Polish beauty was still soaking wet from the shower, and had neglected to put on any clothing, "Can I help you Ms. Bosak?" She asked in a playful tone.

"It's been over a week. We're now free to do whatever we want in this bed." Ela answered as she sat down on Meghan's lap, her chest positioned right in front of the blondes face.

"I don't know." Meghan responded in the same playful tone, "I mean, you've been up all night and you're clearly fatigued. I really should leave you alone so you can catch up on some rest." She pretended to get up and began to remove Ela from her lap, when the Polish girl pushed her back down by the shoulders and pinned her to the bed.

"Either you take these clothes off or I will rip them off with my teeth." Ela growled.

Meghan smirked at the threat, not sure which option was more enticing.

* * *

"So what are the results?" Six asked.

"They were doing fairly well in the beginning, as expected. However, as the night went on, it was clear that fatigue was setting in and performance began to suffer. As a result, we did experience one failure." Isaac explained.

"Which is when you contacted me."

"Right, and you said to try again. This time, training was successful."

"Not bad, but one failure is still one too many." Six concluded, "Were going to need better results if we want our spot back." There was a knock on the door, "We'll discuss this later. Come in."

Mark, Monika and Emma walked into the office, "Good morning ma'am. We're here to pick up the new operators." Emma greeted.

"Perfect. Isaac, will you please bring them in."

"Yes ma'am." Isaac stood up and walked over to door that lead to an adjacent waiting room. He opened it and beckoned whoever was inside to come in. Soon, three figures walked into the room, one man and two women.

"You've already been assigned your partners for the week." Six said, "Dokkaebi, you will be with Twitch."

"Yes ma'am." The younger woman responded with a smile and cheerfulness as she went to shake Emma's hand, "Hi I'm Grace from the 707th Special Mission Battalion, nice to meet you."

"You as well. I'm Emmanuelle with the French GIGN, but everyone just calls me Emma."

"Nice to meet you Emma." Her smile never fading, "I look forward to working with you all."

"Likewise."

"Vigil, you will be with mute." Six continued.

Chul stepped forward and didn't say anything as he seemed to eye the British man before him. The two simply stared each other down before Chul gave an acknowledging nod. Mark nodded back and the two shook hands.

"And Zofia will be with IQ."

The Polish woman walked over to Monika. She stood tall and proud with her chest out, almost as if standing at attention. She was about an inch taller than the blonde, but her posture made her seem so much taller, "Hello." She greeted.

"Nice to meet you." Monika said as they shook hands, Zofia managed to keep a neutral expression on her face. Out of the three, she was clearly the most disciplined one - a polar opposite of her sister.

"Zofia Bosak, GROM."

"Monika Weiss, GSG-9."

"Alright, now that introductions are out of the way," Six interrupted, "Take these three to the administration office and get them checked in, then introduce them to the rest of the team."

The six of them left the office, eager to get the newcomers integrated into the team.

"So how long have you been with Rainbow?" Zofia asked, walking with her hands behind her back.

"Two years, since the day it was reactivated." Monika answered.

"Impressive." Zofia responded, "How many missions?"

"Too many to count, and in too many places to remember."

"I understand. It makes sense that being a part of the best is a taxing lifestyle."

"It is, but it's worth it."

"So I take it as a veteran of the team, you know all the operators fairly well then?"

"Indeed."

"Then may I ask, how is my sister doing?"

So she does know Ela is here. Monika thought, "Ela is doing well. She's proven herself to be a capable soldier. She's well respected among the team."

"Hmm. Very well." Was Zofia's response.

"You seem surprised."

"Growing up together, I was concerned that there may be some…issues, with her being on a team like this."

"It sounds like you don't have much confidence in her."

Zofia decided not to answer to the accusation, "One of the reasons I joined was to check on her, to make sure she was alright."

"You couldn't just call her?"

"It's a little more complicated than that."

"Well, I won't interfere with your family business, but I don't think you have much to worry about." Monika reassured, figuring that pushing that subject wasn't the wisest of decisions.

"I guess we'll see soon enough."

* * *

Ela and Meghan were both lying on their backs, staring at the ceiling. Their breathing heavy as both of their chests heaved up and down. Their bodies covered in sweat, among other fluids, and physically exhausted. Their minds just coming down from pure bliss.

"Wow." Ela heavily breathed, trying to get a grip of her rampaging heart.

"That was…" Meghan started.

"Amazing." Ela finished.

"Yeah."

The two of them laid there for a moment longer, still catching their breath.

"Do you think…you could untie me?" Ela asked, referring to her wrists that were bound together and tied to the headboard.

"What, you don't want to keep helping me with my endurance?" Meghan asked playfully, "I mean, in this position I clearly do all the work anyway."

"First of all, your endurance is clearly fine." Ela said pointing to the clock, which indicated that they had been going for nearly three hours, "Second, you have no idea how much I would love to continue this, but I'm afraid I might die of exhaustion. Third, unlike you I have to be able to walk tomorrow."

"Oh honey," Meghan sat up, "we both already know you're going to have trouble walking tomorrow." She gave the green haired girl a kiss before moving to untie her wrists.

Once she was free, Ela sat up as well, she tried to move her arms only to feel that Meghan still had a grip on them. Meghan appeared to be examining the area that had been tied, noticing that some light bruises had formed. Now these were very minor, to the point where Ela hadn't even noticed them, but Meghan was still looking at them with intent, "What is it?"

"Kind of reminds me of when you first came here." Meghan said, referring to her first week with Rainbow and how she got hurt during her first training exercise. They remembered the bruising Ela received on her side and the time Meghan spent to take care of the Polish girl.

"That was an interesting first week." Ela commented, "It's been a crazy journey since then hasn't it?"

"It sure has." Meghan placed a gentle kiss on Ela's bruises, "And I don't ever want it to end." She moved and gave Ela another gentle kiss on the lips. It took them all their willpower to break free from the contact - they both noticed how easily they got carried away.

"I love you, Meghan."

"And I love you, Ela."

The two of them got lost in each other's eyes for a minute before Ela spoke up, "We should head down stairs."

"Right." The two of them got off of the bed to retrieve their discarded clothing, "Hopefully some of my clothes survived your mauling."

"It wasn't that bad." Ela defended. As the SEAL got dressed, she walked over to the dresser, only to realize two things. One was that she was indeed having trouble walking, thanks to her lovers ferocious love making techniques. The other was that this was Meghan's room, and she didn't bring any extra clothes when they came in. She looked over at her combat gear that she had been wearing, noting that it was still indeed covered in day old dirt and paint. Great.

She then had an idea, she looked back at the dresser and opened it. Hopefully Meghan wouldn't mind, it would only be until she made it back to her room anyway. She quickly rummaged through the drawer and pulled out a pair of the SEALs black pants and a grey hoodie with the US Navy logo on it, both of which were a size too big for her but they would do. She slipped them on, not worrying about any undergarments.

When Meghan had finished getting dressed, she turned around and saw her girlfriends attire and laughed, "Don't tell me you're going to be one of those girlfriends."

"What?" Ela asked.

"You know, the type of girlfriend who steals all of your hoodies and you never see them again."

"Sorry, I didn't think to bring a change of clothes before we started."

"Oh." Meghan responded, "Well, do you want to keep some clothes here? Maybe a towel and a toothbrush as well."

Ela smiled and blushed at the offer, "Are you asking me to move in with you?"

"Well, we live down the hall from each other so it's not like your really moving…but yeah, you spend the night here a lot anyway."

"Sure, I'll get my stuff tonight."

Even though not much was changing, they both knew that this was a significant step in their relationship. Meghan had never reached the 'move in together' phase in any of her past relationships and Ela had never been in a relationship at all. Both women were excited to see where this lead them. They shared one more kiss before leaving to go down to the lounge.

As they made their way downstairs, they noticed a commotion coming from the lounge as seemingly every operator had gathered in a group.

"What's going on here?" Ela asked.

"Oh, right." Meghan remembered, "We're getting new operators today."

"Really?" Ela asked in renowned excitement - it was, after all, the first time she's seeing new faces in Rainbow.

"Yeah, you, Siu and Liu aren't the new kids on the block anymore."

"Where are they from?"

"They never brief us beforehand, but they're right over there, let's go meet them." Meghan started making her way to the group.

"Do we have to? You know I'm horrible at meeting new people."

"Come on, at least say hi and introduce yourself."

"Ugh, fine."

The couple made their way into the crowd and quickly spotted the three unfamiliar faces. One was of a younger Asian woman with glasses, she was talking with Masaru and showing him something on some kind of tablet she had with her. She never stopped smiling and seemed to be slowly getting closer to the Japanese man. At the corner of her eye, Meghan could clearly see Yumi staring daggers at the new operator. She managed to suppress a chuckle.

The second person was an Asian man. Several operators were talking with him, but he never responded with anything more than a nod or a shake of the head. He looked like he really didn't enjoy being the center of attention and hated being in a crowd. Maybe Ela could get along with him.

The final person had their back turned, but something about her felt oddly familiar to Ela. She was slightly taller than the other two and was clearly not of Asian descent. They were currently having a conversation with Eliza and Monika. As Ela moved closer to the mystery person, Monika took notice of her and pointed in her direction. The newcomer finally turned around, and for Ela, time seemed to stop. Everything around her faded away as she came face to face with a piece of the nightmare that was her past, something that she had tried and failed to run away from. She froze as she looked into the eyes of none other than her sister. Zofia.

"Hello, baby sister."

* * *

Author's note: Well, she's here. How will Ela react? How will Meghan react? Will Mute or Vigil ever talk? Find out next time on What Will It Take. So yeah, no sex scene in this one, but don't worry, I'm currently writing a one shot of our ladies special morning. So if you were disappointed, fear not you will still get your smut. Well, Act 4 has been officially completed, I swear I feel like I just started it yesterday. Act 5 will now center on Ela and Zofia's relationship and Meghan trying to keep everything afloat. As always, I hope you enjoyed and feel free to leave a review. Until next time.


	27. Chapter 26

Author's note: I'm so sorry this one took so long. I can explain, for now enjoy the chapter. Thank you RStyle for beta reading. Enjoy.

* * *

What Will It Take?

Chapter 26

* * *

Ela let out a grunt as she was knocked onto her back, the wind knocked out of her.

"Too slow." Zofia chastised, "You keep leaving your left side vulnerable."

Ela got up and wiped the sweat off her forehead before returning to her fighting stance.

"Remember what we went over."

Ela nodded as she clenched her fists; Zofia didn't miss that.

Not willing to give her sister the chance to get the upper hand on her, Zofia swiftly went for a punch, which Ela quickly dodged effortlessly. She brought up her arms to deflect two more punches to her face. Zofia went for a kick but her target was barely able to jump away. The younger sister smirked as she noticed an opening before going for three quick jabs onto her sister, which caused her to rebound, Ela seized the opportunity and went in for a roundhouse kick to the side. Zofia, however, she grabbed onto Ela's leg as it made contact with her side before immediately getting her with a leg sweep. Ela found herself staring at the sky again as she landed on her back.

"Pierdolić!" Ela yelled, punching the ground in frustration. She was hitting her target, but for some reason, her strikes weren't being as nearly as effective as she hoped. Zofia always reacted incredibly fast and while Ela could dodge her older sister's advances, her counterattacks were always deadly.

"Maybe we should take a break." Zofia suggested, noticing how her sister was struggling. Despite her father's request, Zofia couldn't help but slow herself down when she practiced close quarters combat with her own sister. It was one of a few secrets she'd keep to herself forever.

"Why can't I get it right?" Ela asked, more to herself, as she sat down in the grass.

"Hey, don't get too upset over it." Zofia said as she sat down next to her younger sibling, "You just need more time to practice, that's all."

"I don't think he's going to like that answer." Ela said as she looked back toward the house. At the doorway to the back yard stood their father, Jan.

"Zofia." He called immediately, "It's time to go."

"Coming father." Zofia answered as she jumped to her feet. Today was a special day for the older Bosak, she would be participating in a sparring match for the academy. Over a dozen students that were as skilled and as dedicated as her were competing, with the winner getting additional marks on their transcripts. Zofia was excited, as she had taken a liking to hand to hand combat and had practiced tirelessly for months.

Ela, on the other hand, couldn't care less for the sport, having trouble with even the basics despite her intense training regime. Unfortunately, she couldn't skip it as it was still a part of the academy's curriculum and a requirement for graduation. Ela was already struggling with most of the other subjects, she didn't need another problem on her plate, or another lecture from her father.

The pair made their way back into the house. Zofia being filled with excitement, quickly rushed inside. However, as Ela attempted to enter through the door, her father stuck his arm out, blocking her entry. She rolled her eyes, knowing this as a sign that he wanted to talk.

"I can't help but notice that you've been struggling…again."

"Just a few setbacks, it's no big deal." Ela answered.

"Just like how your poor performance in most of your other classes isn't a big deal?"

To say that Ela hated those moments of her life would be the understatement of the century. Ela knew she had to up her game or she'd be left behind, but having her father constantly stepping on her toes didn't help a bit, "Everything is alright father, I'll do better, I promise."

"Then you better get back to training."

"Of course. As soon as we get back from the competition, I'll get back to it." Ela tried to force her way through, but the obstacle in her way hadn't moved an inch.

"Or you can start practicing right now." Jan said with a dulled expression.

"What about Zofi's competition?"

He stepped forward, wanting to keep the following words between them, "She doesn't want you there."

Ela blinked. She was too dumbfounded to actually feel anything at that second as his words struck her like a sledgehammer, "What?"

"She said she doesn't need the…negative impression, of being one of the top performers in the academy while being related to someone who can barely get the basics."

The younger Bosak was confused and hurt that her sister could have said such a thing, she opened her mouth only to close it immediately after, not sure how to respond.

"Why don't you just stay back here and get some more training in?" He put a hand on her shoulder.

"I guess if she really doesn't want me there." Ela was still in shock.

"We'll be back before dark." He said as he made his was out to the family car.

Ela went back out to the yard and began practicing the techniques that she could do on her own.

Zofia was already in the car when she noticed her father was approaching, alone.

"Where's Ela?" She asked him.

"She didn't want to come." He told her.

"What? She doesn't want to support her sister on her big day?"

"She said that staying home and drawing in her book was a much better use of her time." He answered, starting the car, "Don't tell her I said that, she wanted me to lie and say that she was feeling sick, but I thought you deserved to know the truth."

Zofia was speechless as they pulled out of the driveway and made their way to the academy.

* * *

"Baby sister?" Meghan asked, her eyes darting back and forth between the two -apparently sibling- Polish operators, realization slowly sinking in.

"It's been a long time." Zofia said as she walked towards the green haired girl. Her arms were open and a wide smile across her face. She confidently went to hug her younger sibling, only to have her hands swatted away as she neared her.

Ela's expression remained stoic and without saying a word, she turned around and calmly walked back upstairs. The atmosphere of the room seemed to have thickened significantly on these few moments as many of the operators watching the display immediately felt uncomfortable by the exchange.

"Ela wait! Where are you going?" Meghan called, but oddly enough, there was no response.

"I wasn't expecting that reaction." Monika commented, surprise and confusion on her face.

"I was." Zofia sighed.

"I'm sorry, but your Ela's sister?" Meghan asked to clarify.

The newcomer gave the blonde her full attention, "Lieutenant Zofia Bosak, GROM." They shook hands, "And yes, I am Ela's older sister."

"Lieutenant Meghan Castellano, US Navy SEALs." Meghan introduced herself on response, "I'm uh, Ela's girlfriend."

"Girlfriend?" Zofia frowned involuntarily; despite her best attempt, she couldn't hide her surprise.

"Yes."

"Hmm." Zofia remained stoic.

"I'm sorry about this." Monika interrupted, "I thought since you two were family, a surprise reunion would be nice. I wasn't expecting such a harsh reaction."

Zofia smiled shyly. "I guess that means Ela hasn't told you much about me."

* * *

Ela couldn't retreat to her room fast enough. An entire range of emotions were swirling through her mind, none of them good. Deep down, she knew that seeing her sister again was an inevitability, but here of all places, why? And how? Just when things were starting to settle down and life was beginning to look up for the Polish girl, fate decided to throw her another curve ball. Maybe that was the reason, maybe life was just going a little too well for her and the little peace of mind she had needed to be stripped from her yet again.

This wasn't the same as before, when she reunited with her old team. When she left them, it had been for their benefit, at least that's what she thought at the time. She figured they wouldn't want her and that they would be better off anyway if she had moved on, thankfully she had been given the opportunity to fix that mistake, a second chance with those she considered her true family.

But this. This was different. She left her blood family behind because it would benefit herself. She never lost the love she had for her old team, the opposite could be said for the Bosak name, in her father's case she wasn't afraid to admit she hated the man. As for the rest of them, maybe hate wasn't the right word, but the fact was that none of them did anything to make her life as a child or young adult any easier. She wanted to sever ties, never wanting to see any of them ever again. She had many demons, she could bury this one, at least that's what she fooled herself into believing.

Her mind raced as her head involuntarily reflected on her entire life. All the memories, all the trauma. The constant berating by her father, the rift that slowly opened between the two sisters, eventually leading to them no longer speaking to one another. The letter she got from Zofia after six years, it wasn't a greeting card, but a simple message stating that their father had taken his own life.

From the moment they both decided to follow in their father's footsteps, almost no good memories could surface into the girl's mind. It was in that moment that she decided that she would not, could not, reconcile with her sister. Whatever grievances she had could go with her to the grave, unlike with Isaac and the gang.

Isaac…

He oversaw the selection of new operators, which means he had specifically chosen Zofia, despite knowing Ela's history with her family. Why would he bring her here?

Her thoughts were interrupted by a knock on the door. Only then did she realize that she had been in such a rush to get out of there that she had left Meghan behind. The blonde was probably worried about her. She rushed to answer the door, only to be shocked once again as it wasn't the SEAL. It was Mike.

"You alright?" He asked.

"Mike." Ela said, surprised, "Yes, I'm fine."

He could clearly see that she was lying, "Can I come in?"

"Sure." She said as she stepped aside and let the man in her room.

"You want to tell me what that was all about?"

Ela wasn't sure why Mike of all people would be concerned about her and her sister, but there was no point in keeping anything hidden from the rest of the team, if she didn't tell them, Zofia would, "Zofia is my sister."

"Right, we all gathered that much." He said matter-of-factly, "I'm talking about your little escape routine. Running isn't exactly what you'd expect when being reunited with a loved one."

"'Loved one' is a stretch." Ela muttered.

"Come again."

"It's been forever since I've seen her." She answered, "And I was hoping to keep that way."

"Ah." Mike answered, getting the picture. "Trouble on the home front?"

"That's putting it mildly."

"Well," He sat down in one of the chairs, "let's hear it."

It felt odd talking to someone different about this, her old team along with Meghan were the only ones who knew about the hardships she faced growing up, "My whole life, I felt like I was merely a shadow to her, never amounting to anything close to what she could accomplish."

Mike sat in silence, listening to her story.

"Being the oldest child of Jan Bosak, she was expected to be able to walk in his shoes from the moment she could stand." Ela continued, "She did, with flying colors. I, being the youngest, was expected to walk in both of their shoes. While she was able to run, I could barely take my first steps. Every test, every practice, every opportunity to prove myself, I struggled or outright failed. Meanwhile, she became the model student, a prodigy, surpassing every standard as if it were nothing. Soon, it became apparent to our father that Zofia would go on to be an excellent soldier, a perfect gem on the family legacy. I on the other hand, a stain."

"And I take it he didn't exactly hide his thoughts about your performance."

Ela nodded, "At first, it started with what one would expect, longer studies, more practices, less time for fun. Then it got unconventional, under no circumstances was a child of Commander Jan Bosak going to fail his own program. All night studying, harsher training, even to the point of breaking bones, no interaction with friends. Eventually I wasn't even allowed to see my own sister." Ela let a single tear trail down her face as she recalled the next memory, "When even that didn't work, he said perhaps his time, energy…and love were better spent on something else."

"'Something else' being Zofia." Mike guessed.

Ela could only nod.

"And how did she view all of this?"

Ela shook her head, "I wasn't allowed to be around her, remember. But eventually she started leaving me behind, she wouldn't want me at any of her matches or events, she stopped training with me. Soon, we stopped talking all together. So, I stopped bothering after that, I figured if they didn't think I was worth their time, then they were not worth mine. When I was only sixteen, I left for Berlin, I never spoke to him again and haven't spoken to her since."

Mike took the time to go over what he had just been told. It was clear that his Polish associate was deeply scarred, even traumatized from her experiences growing up. He wanted to help her somehow, one of his trademarks was being a mentor to the younger operators, and despite being in her early thirties Ela was still one of the youngest team members in Rainbow. Mentoring someone like her wouldn't be easy, but it couldn't be more difficult than Dominic, he had even managed a breakthrough with Taina and she was in league all her own, "Listen, Ela."

Ela stopped her reminiscing and focused her attention back on the team's oldest operator.

"There's no way I could ever understand your situation or what you are feeling right now." He began, "But, I might have an inkling about how your sister feels."

Ela was intrigued, "How?"

"You see, I was also the older sibling, and the favorite. I joined the army as soon as I was old enough, and on top of that I became a part of none other than the Special Air Service. I took part in many operations and now I'm one of the most decorated members of the team. My brother however, always getting into trouble. When we were kids, he would always get into trouble in school, failing exams, skipping class. Even as adults, on more than one occasion I've received a call in the middle of the night to gather his drunken arse from jail. It was clear that our parents were more pleased with myself rather than Paulie."

This did nothing to help Ela feel better, "Why are you telling me this?"

"Because at no point did my love for him as a brother diminish." He looked her in the eye to let her know that he was serious, "Yes, when your young, it goes to your head a little and yes, it put strain on our relationship at times. But I still consider him my family and he considers me the same. I would kill for him just as soon as I would for any of you, because at the end of the day, family is all you have. I'm willing to bet money that your sister probably feels the same, at least something close to that."

Ela took in the advice and thought hard, "But it's been sixteen years, can I even still call her family?"

He gave her a serious look, "I can't answer that, but I can tell you this, I don't think she came all this way for the weather."

Ela still felt uncertain.

"Look, what I'm trying to show you is that you're not alone on this one. How you coped with your situation involving the captain and his lads is one thing. But now you have us, the entire Team Rainbow is standing with you." He gave her a comforting smile, "Not to mention you've got the bloody toughest soldier I've ever met as a girlfriend."

Ela thought back to all the times Meghan had supported her through her struggles, "She has helped me before."

Mike put a hand on her shoulder, "You're tougher than you think Bosak, don't let a dead man blind you of that."

* * *

"Sixteen years?!" Meghan asked.

"Yes." Zofia answered.

"And she hasn't contacted you once?"

"Not even so much as an email."

"Have you tried to get in touch with her at all?"

"I'll admit, for the first six years or so I didn't even try." She explained, "But after my father died, I decided that it wasn't worth letting old demons get in the way of what little family I have left. Ela thought differently, when I found out she had passed selection I tried to reach out to her several times. She never responded…I can't say that I blame her."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Eliza asked.

"Let's just say that our father didn't make things easy for us growing up, especially for her."

"I should really go check on her." Meghan said, beginning to worry about her girlfriend.

"Before you go, may I ask," Zofia interrupted, gaining Meghan's attention once again, "how did you two end up…how did you meet?"

Meghan blushed, completely forgetting that this was in fact the family of her significant other, "Ten years ago, we worked together on an op. We only started dating recently, just a couple months ago."

"And you're…taking care of her, treating her well?"

Meghan wondered if this was how Ela felt meeting her mom, "Absolutely, you could even say she's doing a better job taking care of me to be honest." She said, referring to her crutches. She didn't wait for a response as she left the room and slowly making her way up the stairs.

"I'm sure Ela will come around." Monika said, "Come on, we should continue showing you around and getting you checked in."

* * *

As Meghan approached Ela's room, she saw a familiar face step out. "Mike?"

"Castellano, perfect timing." Mike greeted.

"What's going on?" She asked.

"Just having a little talk about what's got her bugged out." He answered, "She's going to need some time to get over this hurdle, but I think everything will be fine. Just make sure she knows you have her back."

"Of course." Meghan was both surprised and touched that Mike would be caring enough to check on the Polish operator.

"I guess things were going a little too smoothly." He joked as he walked away.

"You can say that again." Meghan didn't bother knocking as she entered the room. Ela was sitting on her bed, looking deep in thought, "How you doing?"

Ela sighed, "I don't know."

Meghan sat down next to her, The Polish girl barely acknowledging her presence, "I talked with her a little."

"And…?"

"She was so 'by the books' that I couldn't see a family resemblance." The blonde joked, trying to lighten her girlfriend's mood. Ela having a smile on her face was finally becoming the norm and she didn't want that to go away, not when they had worked so hard to make it happen.

Ela's only response was a menacing glare that told her not to push it, that this was definitely not the time.

Meghan put her hands up, "Sorry." Normally she knew exactly how to help Ela when she was down, she couldn't get it right every time she supposed.

Ela just shook her head in annoyance and went back to thinking.

"You know, she does care about you."

"What makes you say that?"

"I think she was thrown off by the fact that we're dating. She was immediately concerned about how I was treating you."

"You told her about us?!" Ela yelled as she slapped the SEALs arm.

"Was I not supposed to?" The blonde asked, rubbing the spot that had been assaulted.

Ela could only roll her eyes, another thing to make this unexpected reunion awkward and stressful.

"Are you going to speak to her?"

"I have no idea." Ela answered, "I made a promise to myself a long time ago that I would leave my family behind, that I never wanted to speak to or hear from any of them again. But if she's on the team now, I don't see how that's possible." Ela stared off into the distance, looking lost.

Meghan recognized that look, it was the same look she had when she found out Isaac was in command, "Well, whatever you decide Ela, just know that I'll-"

"I know." Ela interrupted and took Meghan's hands into her own, "I know you'll be there for me, because you always are."

The two smiled at one another, nothing more needing to be said. Fate had tested them before, this time they were ready for whatever the world had to throw at them.

* * *

Author's note: Again, I'm really sorry this one took so long. Life kind of got thrown into high gear for me. After five years of serving in the military, I am once again a civilian. Now I'm back home, working a normal job and waiting for college to start in the spring. Thank you all for being patient and I promise i'm going to do my best to make sure a three month wait doesn't happen again. I hope this chapter was worth the wait. As always, I hope you enjoyed and feel free to leave a review. Until next time.


	28. Chapter 27

Author's note: Hello again, it's been a while! I'm sorry these chapters are taking longer and longer to get done, but life has been hectic lately. I'll explain at the end, I've also got kind of an exciting announcement. Anyway, enough excuses let get on with the story. Enjoy.

* * *

What Will It Take?

Chapter 27

* * *

A headshake, "Again." A grunt.

A flying leg hitting the sandbag shaped as a man.

Another headshake, "Again." Another grunt.

Another kick on the bag.

"Again."

A weakened kick, delivering a fraction of the potency of the ones before it. Fatigue slowly setting in, sweat dripping from her face.

"Is that all you've got?" Her father asked

"We've been doing this for hours, I need a break." Ela said exhausted as she reached for an almost empty water bottle lying next to her. They were standing there since noon but even with the sun about to set, Jan showed no intent of slowing down.

For what was the umpteenth time, Jan vigorously shook his head, "Do you think your enemies will give you a break?!" He countered, with a hint of irony in his voice, "If you can't fight just because you're tired, your opponents will eat you alive."

Ela figured that he wasn't going to let up. Mustering up her remaining strength, she delivered one fatal blow to the training dummy. This time, the force was enough to knock over the contraption. She would have been proud of herself, if exhaustion hadn't finally caught up with her as she fell to the ground on her hands and knees.

"Get up!" Jan demanded, not concerned about his daughter's safety in the slightest.

"Father, please." She begged. She breathed heavily as her body begged for just a minute or two to recover from exhaustion.

"I said get up!" Without a warning, he reached down and grabbed her by the ends of her long brown hair and yanked.

She let out a scream at the abuse. She had no choice but to quickly jump back to her feet or risk having her hair yanked from her scalp. Once she was standing again, she could only look in horror at her father. He had berated her before when she performed poorly, but never physically. Ela stepped back until she felt a bit safer, an involuntary reaction of self-defense.

"A good soldier will always get back to their feet, even in the face of death! You can't even get up to face a sack of sand!" He glanced at his visibly afraid daughter rubbing the back of her head. He pointed at her hair before shouting again, "And that. In a skirmish, having such long hair only gives your opponent something to grab onto, another crutch. You're going to fix that."

She quickly took the hint; she would have to cut her hair.

It was only when Jan noticed that the house lights were now turned on that he realized how dark it was getting, he looked at his watch and grunted, "I have a meeting to attend to, we'll continue this tomorrow."

Ela shyly nodded as he walked past her to the house, the back of her head still burned, but that wasn't the pain that made tears to form in her eyes. Ela could only fight hard enough not to fall to her knees another time.

"I believe you still have homework for the night." He stopped just before the door, "I expect it all to be done by the time I get back."

"Yes, father."

* * *

The bust shaped in gold of the first President of the United States, George Washington, surrounded by a purple heart in a golden frame adorn is one of the greatest decorations of U.S. military. This medal is only granted for those who were killed or wounded by the enemy during military service. It is a reminder of those who made the ultimate sacrifice for their country.

"In grateful acknowledgment of the blood shed in the service of your country, it is my honor to present you with the order of the Purple Heart." Six announced.

The entire team Rainbow and other high clearance personnel had gathered for the ceremony. On the stage stood Meghan, Norman and Irvin. The blonde still needed the crutches to stand, but she's been using them for well over a month now and it's already become second nature to her. Once the warrant had been read, Six pinned the prestigious medal on to each of their uniforms, for Irvin, it was now his second time earning the award. Once all the medals were pinned to their rightful owners, Norman and Irvin saluted and marched off, taking their place back in the crowd. Meghan however, stood still.

Six then pulled out another warrant and began reading, "Under the orders by the Secretary of the Navy, I also appoint this sailor, Meghan J. Castellano, as a Lieutenant Commander in the United States Navy." Six then brandished two gold oak leaves, "Who would you like to do the honors?"

"Elzbieta Bosak." Meghan answered.

Upon hearing her name, Ela stepped forward and took the insignias from the Team Rainbow leader. She swiftly removed the two sets of silver bars currently on the SEALs uniform and replaced them with the oak leaves, "Congratulations." Was all she said, formally while offering her a smile, it was a professional celebration after all.

Once Ela had stepped off stage, Meghan gave a salute to Six, which she returned, "Dismissed." The leader ordered, bringing an end to the ceremony.

Now that the ceremony was officially over, the other operators were able to let out their cheers for their friends before going up to shake each of their hands and congratulating them in person. As soon as most of the crowd had passed over the recipients, Ela once again took her place at Meghan's side. She gave her a quick peck on the cheek; showing affection while in uniform is highly frowned upon, but Ela definitely wouldn't let that stop her.

"Aren't you glad I had it dry cleaned?" Ela asked, a wide smile plastered on her face. She wanted to wrap her arm on Meghan's but felt like she was daring enough already.

"Thanks for looking out for me, they sprung this ceremony on us out of nowhere." Meghan answered.

Ela took a moment to eye her girlfriend up and down while she was in her uniform, admiring the woman right beside her, taking an extra second inspecting the shiny new insignias on her collar, "It looks nice on you."

"Thanks." The blonde responded before leaning in closer, "It'll look better on the floor."

"Really now?" Ela couldn't help but blush at the naughty remark, "I guess we'll see tonight." She bit her lower lip, a secret turn on for Meghan. While their relationship advanced, both women were becoming more daring by the day. Neither Ela nor Meghan ever dreamed of discussing their nighttime plans out in the open like that, but now they just couldn't care less about it.

"Will you get a room, please!"

Meghan smiled when she saw a familiar redhead and blonde approaching them, "Hey, I've had to watch you guys for two years, it's only fair." Meghan countered.

Eliza wrapped an arm around her friend, "Congratulations Meg- sorry, Ms. Lieutenant Commander," the redhead mocked a salute when she stepped back, making Meghan roll her eyes at the silliness.

"Thanks."

"Well done." Monika formally congratulated as expected. She then did something strange; she went to give Meghan a handshake but offered her left hand.

Meghan wasn't fazed by that, but quickly spotted what the German wanted her to see, "Monika, is that...?"

"Yes!" She couldn't contain her excitement anymore. Adorning her ring finger, was the gold engagement ring Eliza had been hiding for the longest of time.

"What?!" Meghan gave each of them a hug, not minding that it wasn't the time and place for that kind of display, "When did this happen?"

"Last night." Eliza giggled like a little girl. She wouldn't admit it to anyone, but she was scared shitless and felt a little proud of herself when she finally grew the balls to ask Monika's hand.

"Well, I guess congratulations are in order for you two as well."

"Looks like a celebration is in order." Eliza declared, "Let's all go out tonight."

"Sure, I'll see if Lena and Amelie want to come along."

"Sounds good." Monika said.

"Sound good to you Ela?" Meghan turned to her girlfriend, only to find her missing. "Ela?"

"Why did she disappear this time?" Eliza asked.

"Because she saw me coming."

The group turned their attention to the new voice. It had been a week since Zofia had arrived and Ela had somehow managed to avoid her sister like the plague. Meghan and the gang had tried convincing the younger Bosak to at least talk with her sibling, but Ela wouldn't budge.

"Oh, hey Zofia." Meghan greeted.

"Congratulations, ma'am." Zofia said formally, seeing that Meghan now outranked her.

"Please, it's still Meghan." The SEAL insisted. Rank may have held a place in their respective units, but in Rainbow, performance outranked everything. Beyond that, everyone was on a first name basis, minus a few exceptions.

"Congratulations, Meghan." For the past few days, the two had made small interactions. Meghan still wouldn't consider her a friend, but the two respected one another, "I was hoping to finally catch her here."

"Yeah, she's proven to have a talent for sneaking away unnoticed. Especially if it's to avoid someone." Meghan commented.

"Well, she has no choice come tomorrow."

"What do you mean?"

"Six just scheduled a training run tomorrow. It's mostly to test Grace, Chul, and myself, but all operators will be participating, other than you of course."

"I guess it was going to happen sooner or later." Meghan said. She didn't show it, but she was nervous for Ela. She had been trying to coax the Polish girl into meeting with her sister, but now, the two of them being forced into a conflict, even a simulated one, didn't sound like best means of doing so.

"Disappointed you won't be participating Meg?" Eliza taunted.

"I could still take you, even with only one leg, since you only seem to do cardio." The blonde responded with confidence, referring to the fact the redhead had been neglecting to join her and Monika for their workouts.

"You'd have to catch me first." Eliza shot back.

* * *

Ela had just finished putting away the last of her clothes along with some final hygiene products in the bathroom. Over the past few days she had been slowly moving her things from her own room to Meghan's. Today however, marked the last of it, she could now live solely in Meghan's room without ever having to go back to her own. It was only a few rooms down the hall, and nothing had really changed, the couple had spent almost every night together since they started dating. It was more about the principle she supposed, the two were in love and willing to now share their personal space as one.

She looked around the room, admiring the little changes. Two sets of pillows on the bed instead of one, two coffee mugs on the counter, two sets of towels in the bathroom. All of it brought one thing to her attention.

"There is a severe lack of décor in here…" She thought to herself. The room was bland and lacked any personality. Granted, neither of them really cared about the vanity of the room, but a painting on the wall or maybe some new curtains would liven the place up. Maybe her time studying art could finally be put to good use.

As she was picturing different methods of decorating, the door opened and Meghan came in, "There you are."

"Hey." Ela greeted before pulling her in for the deep kiss she wanted to give her during the ceremony, waiting until they needed air before parting, "Congratulations."

"Thanks." Meghan responded.

"Look," Ela gestured to her belongings, "That's the last of my things, I'm officially moved in."

"That's awesome." Meghan said happily, looking forward to living with the Polish girl.

"Now, how about you show me that uniform on the floor?" Ela suggested with a mischievous smile as she sat down on the bed.

"Actually, I need to talk to you about a few things, since you ran off." Meghan desperately wanted to take her girlfriend up on her offer, but there were more pressing matters.

"Oh?"

"First, Eliza and Monika are engaged."

"Really?! Since when?"

"Eliza proposed last night."

"That's great for them." Ela was genuinely happy for her two friends.

"So, we're all going out tonight to celebrate, Lena and Amelie are coming as well."

"That sounds wonderful." The Polish girl said, looking forward to a nice love making session with her girlfriend followed by a night out, "What else did you want to talk about?"

Meghan sighed. She took a seat next to the green haired girl, "Your sister."

Ela rolled her eyes, "What about her?"

"You know you're going to have to talk with her eventually, right?"

The mention of her sister was really killing her mood, "I know."

"So, don't you think you should get on with it?"

Ela hesitated, "I'm trying to find the right time."

"Why not right now?"

"No!"

Meghan was startled by Ela's sudden aggression, "Then when?"

This was not a subject that Ela wanted to talk about right now, "Why are you so concerned about this now?"

"Because I'm worried about you, Ela." Meghan took Ela's hand into her own.

"Don't be, I was perfectly fine until you brought this up." Ela let go of her hand and stood up.

"Really? Because it doesn't seem like it." Meghan followed.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"You haven't been acting normal since she got here."

"Of course I haven't, you know about me and my family." Ela was losing her patience, "Why are you trying to resolve this now? You said you would support me no matter what I chose."

"Because you're not going to have a choice tomorrow." Meghan was also getting frustrated. "There's a training op tomorrow and everyone is going to be there."

Ela couldn't respond. Again, she knew this was an inevitability, but didn't want to accept it.

"Odds are, you're going to either face her or work on a team with her. How are you going to avoid her then?"

Ela thought hard about the possibility and what she would do if and when such a case occurred, "If I have to, I'll treat her as a coworker, saying only what's necessary to get the job done and leaving once it's over. Nothing more."

"So you're just going to pretend that she's not your sister, you know there's a chance we all might go to combat together."

"Why not? We're all a team but we're close with everyone. It's not as if you and Taina are close."

"But she's still your sister."

"It doesn't matter."

"Ela…"

"Why are you making this a bigger deal than it needs to be?"

"I'm worried about us."

"What do you mean?"

"You left me back there." Meghan explained, "Just like last week, you saw her, and just left. No warning, no 'see you later', you just walked away. You haven't done that since before we dated."

Ela recalled the two moments she desperately avoided her sister and realized that Meghan was right. She couldn't help but feel a shred of guilt, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to leave you behind."

"I know you didn't." Meghan wrapped her arms around her and pulled her in close, "I just can't help but worry that by running away from her you're also running away from me."

Ela returned the embrace, "I'm sorry. I'm not trying to quit on you…on us."

"I don't want to lose you."

"You won't, I promise."

"I love you."

"I love you too."

For a moment, the two didn't say anything else.

"So, tonight?" Meghan asked, still worried and uncertain, but at least in this moment Ela was still with her.

"It's a date."

* * *

Zofia was sitting on her bed, meticulously cleaning her KS79 for what must have been the third time that day. She was excited, and a little anxious, tomorrows training would be her first chance to show her new teammates what she was capable of and she didn't want to mess it up, not that she thought she would. She also saw this as an opportunity to see just how far her sister had come, and maybe even a chance to finally speak with her.

Zofia reflected on her first week with Rainbow. On several occasions she tried to interact with Ela, every time she would slip away before she even got close, almost like a game of cat and mouse. She wasn't sure what to expect when reuniting with her sister. She knew her father's treatment would forever scar the younger sibling, and she had done very little to mitigate that. At first, she tried to help Ela with her struggles and their father's abusive ways, but the damage had been done, the two were now divided. She truly hoped that this would be her chance to undo what had been done all those years ago.

A knock on the door brought her out of her thoughts. She answered the door to see Grace, "Good evening."

"Hey Zofi, just wanted to check in, making sure you're ready for tomorrow." The Korean operator greeted with a smile.

"I appreciate that." Zofia thanked, "You can come in if you want."

"Sure." Grace happily accepted the offer and practically bounced inside, quickly grabbing a seat in Zofia's rolling chair.

"I was just getting my launcher ready." Zofia said as she sat back down on her bed to inspect the gadget one last time, "What about you, is you're Logic Bomb ready?"

"Absolutely, software is up to date and it's got a full battery, I'm ready to override whatever they can throw at us." She reported with a smile.

"Good. Should be a smooth operation tomorrow. Hopefully we are up to the challenge, I would hate to make a negative first impression."

"Speaking of which, I may have a solution for that," Grace formed a cunning smile as she rolled closer to her Polish friend, "I have something that may help us out."

"What do you mean?" Zofia asked.

"I may have gotten past Six's cyber security and I may have found the list of who's participating in what rounds tomorrow." She said innocently.

"You what?!" Zofia raised her eyebrows in surprise, "That's got to be a violation of rules."

"Only if they find out about it."

"You hacked into their system, don't they have detection software or something?!"

"Well, yeah, if you can even call it that." Grace said almost nonchalantly, "Getting around them was child's play."

"I'm worried that you'll get in trouble."

"One, I won't. And two, you're not seeing the point here. Now we know who we are facing and when. That means we'll be better prepared, we'll perform better, everyone will be impressed. There, it's the good first impression you wanted."

Zofia wasn't sure how she felt about this, "That sounds like cheating."

"All is fair in love and war my friend."

"You act like a simple proverb is enough to justify this?"

Grace could see that Zofia was genuinely uncomfortable with this, "Look, how about we just do it just this once?" She offered, "We'll look at the list, we'll perform well tomorrow, make everyone like us, then we'll never do it again."

This did very little to make the Polish woman feel any better, "I don't know."

"What if I told you that we'll be going against your sister in round one?"

Zofia's demeanor instantly changed, "What?!"

"See for yourself." Grace turned on her tablet and showed her friend the list of operators, "You and I will be attacking along with Emma, Monika, and her girlfriend, the crazy redhead. Meanwhile, Chul will be on the other team, along with your sister, Mark, James, and that creepy lady who keeps staring at me."

"I'll be going against Ela?" Zofia asked, not from lack of hearing, she just didn't want to believe it.

"Yes. Sorry, I know that's not how you wanted your reunion to go."

"I guess it has to start somewhere."

"Have you spoken to her at all since we arrived?"

Zofia shook her head, "Every time I get near, it's as if she senses me and runs off."

"Still?"

"Unfortunately, yes." She frowned, "I'm starting to wonder if this may have been a waste of time."

"Don't think like that." Grace put a hand on her shoulder, "I'm sure she'll come around. The fact that you're putting in the effort might be lost to her now, but eventually she'll see that she has no reason to run."

This brought a smile to Zofia's face. Since they met, she always marveled at the Korean woman's ability to stay happy and upbeat at all times, "Thanks Grace, I needed that."

"No problem." Grace thought for a moment, "What about her girlfriend? Do you think she will be able to help you in this?"

"She's already tried, but Ela is too stubborn, a family trait I'm afraid." Zofia sighed, "Besides, I'm not sure how I feel about Ela dating an American woman."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"I'm not against her being gay, it's just that, growing up, she never struck me as being attracted to women. In fact, she never struck me as being attracted to anyone." Zofia explained.

Grace looked at her and raised an eyebrow in confusion, "So you thought your sister was asexual?"

Zofia let out a small laugh, "I mean she was never close to anyone. No friends, boyfriends, acquaintances. Even on group projects, she would treat her partners as more of a means to a passing grade."

The Korean nodded her head in clarity.

"I mean, I'm not even sure how intimate those two really are."

Grace blushed, but hid her face behind her tablet, "I think they're pretty intimate."

"What?"

"Nothing." Grace quickly deflected, "I mean, it's been what, sixteen years you said? A lot can change in that time."

"I know, I'm just concerned. I'm her sister, I should know everything about her, and now we might as well be total strangers."

Something about that last statement struck a note with Grace, "Maybe that's the key!" She yelled.

"What?"

"Instead of approaching her as your sister, approach her like a stranger." Grace explained, "Eventually you could move on to be acquaintances, then friends, then before you know it, you're sisters again!"

Zofia contemplated the idea, it would take a lot longer, but her current method wasn't working, "I think you might be on to something."

"And tomorrows training is the perfect place to start."

"I think I will give it a try." Zofia confirmed, "Thanks Grace."

"No problem Zofi."

"You're smarter than people give you credit for."

"That's right." The Korean woman said before realizing, "Hey, what's that supposed to mean?!"

* * *

Author's note: Again, I'm really sorry these are now taking forever. I've started a new job and that has been taking up all of my time. So unfortunately it seems that this might be the norm from now on, I'd rather take months to give you guys a good chapter than a couple weeks to give a mediocre one. Hope you guys understand.

Now for the more exciting news: Another thing that has been taking up my time is that I started dabbing in the art of video editing and I like so much that I've started a youtube channel. You guys seem to like my work here and always give excellent feedback so maybe check that out and tell me what you think of that as well? The link is in my profile, since links don't seem to work here in the chapters themselves.

As always, I hope you enjoyed and feel free to leave a review. Until next time.


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